Steele Farm

Tucked along Middle Road in Boxborough, Steele Farm is one of the town’s most treasured open spaces — and one of its most beautiful. The sweeping views from the farm’s hilltop fields are the kind that stop you in your tracks, with open meadows rolling toward a wooded horizon that feels far removed from the world just outside town.

The farm’s history runs deep. Its roots trace back to Silas Wetherbee, who in 1775 donated three acres of land for a meetinghouse and burial ground for the new town — land that would become the approximate center of Boxborough when it was officially incorporated in 1783. The following year, Wetherbee sold the farm to his son Levi, who worked the land until his death in 1829. Burpee Clark Steele purchased the property in 1908 and became well known for his expansive apple orchards — remnants of which still cling to the western hillside today. The farm passed to his son Burpee Franklin Steele in 1925, and when the Great Hurricane of 1938 took down the original barn, a new one was built in its place — the same barn standing there today. The Richardson Farm Ice House was later moved to the site by the Boxborough Historical Society in the 1990s.

Now owned by the Town and permanently protected with both historic and conservation restrictions, Steele Farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 36-acre farm — part of a larger 110-acre conservation area that includes the adjacent Beaver Brook Meadow — offers something for every season. In spring and summer, the fields come alive with bobolinks, a rare grassland bird that nests here annually. Two ponds provide a quiet refuge for waterfowl, while the southern wetlands teem with wildlife year-round. Mature groves of spruce and pine give the landscape a timeless New England character.

Come winter, the hills draw families for sledding and cross-country skiing, and the farm serves as a gathering place for community events like the annual Winterfest bonfire.

With roughly 3.5 miles of trails, five access points, off-road parking at the farmhouse, and a community garden open to Boxborough residents, Steele Farm is as welcoming as it is beautiful. Whether you’re walking the dog, watching birds, or simply looking for a quiet place to breathe, this is one of those spots that reminds you why people love living here.