Samuel Boyd shaped Marlborough from a small town into a vibrant city through banking, manufacturing, transportation, utilities, housing, and civic service. A banker, entrepreneur, and pioneering shoe manufacturer, he owned the Boyd and Corey Shoe Factory on Main Street, reputed to be the largest shoe factory in the country, while also giving generously to the community and providing monetary gifts during the Civil War to active Marlborough soldiers who had families. He promoted and financed construction of a railroad in 1855, later established a local gas company, built a commercial water supply company from Lake Williams in 1870 and later gave it to the municipality, started a coal business and a machine shop, built an indoor skating rink in 1883 that became a popular public meeting hall, and installed Marlborough's electric trolley system in 1887, one of the earliest in the country. On the Maple Street trolley line he built a park for concerts, picnics, and Sunday afternoon leisure, and because he owned the most real estate in town, he supplied the city with necessary affordable housing. He was the first president of the Marlborough Savings Bank, later President and Director of the First National Bank, served as a selectman and representative to the General Court, and chaired the Marlborough Philharmonic Society. When he died in 1892, stores closed for his funeral, banks suspended business, city offices closed, and schools held only morning sessions. The Boyd and Corey shoe factory built on this site in 1871 grew to be what was locally believed the largest shoe factory in America, five stories high with over an acre and a half of floor space, employing nearly 1,000 workers including over 200 women at its peak, and producing millions of shoes and boots for southern and western U.S. markets. Thomas Corey, born in Ireland in 1823, came to Marlborough as a young man, became active in town affairs, bought the old William Dawes house around 1845 and converted it into a stately mansion, partnered with Boyd in 1847, mysteriously retired in 1865 and went south, returned in 1868, rejoined Boyd, and helped build the famous Main Street factory a few years later. Corey died in 1875, Boyd ran the factory until his own death in 1892, the business then continued under family ownership, but by 1897 business reversals, union problems, and better offers from other cities led Boyd and Corey to move to Augusta, Maine, where the company lasted only two more years before closing in 1899. From 1899 to the mid-1920s, the Rice and Hutchins Shoe Company occupied the building until it was torn down.