Lyman School for Boys

The State Reform School was established by Massachusetts per St 1847, c 165, for the instruction, employment, and reform of juvenile offenders. The school, governed by a board of trustees appointed by the governor, opened at Westborough in 1848. Any boy under the age of sixteen convicted of an offence punishable under state law by imprisonment could be sentenced to the school. Along with discipline the school emphasized reform through instruction and employment. The trustees could recommend that a boy be sent to another correctional facility if he were thought not capable of reform or otherwise unsuited to the school. The trustees could discharge a boy only if his term had expired, he had reached the age of twenty-one, or he was reformed. No boy committed served a term longer than his minority or less then a year.

The Nautical Branch of the school, or State Nautical School (called the Massachusetts Nautical School from 1867) was established by St 1859, c 285 and c 286. It instructed boys in seamanship and navigation. Successful candidates would then be discharged from the school and allowed to go on sea voyages. Reaching the peak of popularity in 1869, it was abolished per St 1872, c 68. (See: Massachusetts Nautical School (1867-1872))

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