Townspeople created an agricultural economy with apple orchards and by 1750 there were two stores and four taverns as well as several small industries in operation. The rapid fall of prices for agricultural goods, the shortage of hard currency and the general economic depression following the Revolutionary War produced disastrous conditions for colonists. Shay's Rebellion in 1786 sought to close the courts to prevent debt collections and the foreclosure of mortgages. Shrewsbury became a staging area for the rebellion and the encampment of the more than 400 insurgents, before the march on the Worcester Court House. A leather industry began in 1786 in Shrewsbury and town farmers developed large cattle herds to support the manufacture of boots and shoes.

This was followed by the establishment of gunsmithing operations in 1797 which produced rifles, shotguns and pistols and eventually cutlery. Luther Goddard began in 1809 by making brass clocks and then established a small watch factory employing a few skilled Swiss and English watchmakers. Lumbering created sawmills and they in turn drew chair and cabinet makers, plow and wagon builders.

Shrewsbury Massachusetts is located in Central Massachusetts, bordered by Worcester on the west, Northborough and Westborough on the east, and Grafton on the south and northwest. Shrewsbury is 5 miles east of Worcester, 27 miles south of Fitchburg, 34 miles west of Boston, and 183 miles from New York City.