Town Edition
Worcester County
Bolton, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Bolton’s public library is a 1904 fieldstone building with oak woodwork and stone fireplaces, and in 2010 it reopened ten thousand square feet larger. That addition happened because neighbors raised a million dollars privately, won a state grant, and then Bolton’s own taxpayers voted at Town Meeting to cover the rest. That is the shape of power in this town of about 5,665 people: the biggest decisions are made in a room any registered voter can walk into. In May 2026, 608 residents cast the ballots that filled every elected town office. This guide shows you how to get into the room, and what to do once you are there.
Bolton at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Worcester. Bolton is a rural town of about 20 square miles in eastern Worcester County, still home to working farms and apple orchards, first settled by English colonists along the Still River in the 1600s.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Marie Sobalvarro.
- Schools: Bolton has no district of its own. Its students attend the Nashoba Regional School District, shared with Lancaster and Stow, about 2,972 students in all, led by Superintendent Kirk Downing.
How Bolton’s Government Works
Bolton runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Bolton is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Select Board to set policy between meetings, and Bolton’s seats on the regional School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Administrator to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Administrator.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Bolton is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
3 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Administrator.
Town Administrator
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
11 members from Bolton, Lancaster and Stow, elected by the voters of each town. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 3 members of the Select Board and Bolton’s seats on the regional School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Administrator and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets at 7:00 pm on alternating Thursday evenings at Bolton Town Hall, 663 Main Street, with special meetings as needed. Each agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held on the first Monday in May, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- Town elections: Bolton votes in the spring. At the Annual Town Election on May 11, 2026, 608 residents cast ballots to fill the town’s elected offices. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 State Primary is September 1, 2026, with the general election that November.
Explore the Bolton Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour three board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Bolton History1738, farms, and a landmark library
- DemographicsWho lives in Bolton
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataNashoba schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Worcester County, and that includes Bolton. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Bolton
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, and police or fire go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets at 7:00 pm on alternating Thursday evenings at Bolton Town Hall, 663 Main Street, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. Three Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 663 Main Street, Bolton, MA 01740. Town Administrator’s Office 978-779-3300.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-779-2771, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at bolton-ma.gov.
- Public schools: the Nashoba Regional School District, nrsd.net.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.