Leominster is bounded by Fitchburg and Lunenburg to the north, Lancaster to the east, Sterling and Princeton to the south, and Westminster to the west.

The region was originally inhabited by various divisions of the Pennacook or Nipmuc Native Americans, who lived along the Nashua River.

[6] The European settlers and native people lived peacefully for a number of years, until the start of King Philip's War in 1675.

[5][6] The violent war between the native Indians and early settlers killed hundreds of people and drove off the inhabitants from the area.

[5][6] To prevent further conflict with the native Indians, the settlers negotiated with Chief Sholan and his nephew George Tahanto of the Nashaway tribe for the land.

The Emory Stearn Schoolhouse and the John Drake home, led anti-slavery campaigns and helped house fugitive slaves.

[7] In Leominster's early existence, the town was primarily a small farming community, but towards the beginning of the 19th century, the economy quickly shifted into manufacturing.

[8] By the 1850s, paper mills, piano makers, and comb manufacturers had established factories along the Monoosnoc Brook and Nashua River.

[11] Construction of combs was a time-consuming and painstaking process, involving preparation of the natural materials such as animal horn, roughing out of a basic form, and finally, individual cutting of the teeth.

In 1931, Foster visited Jack Goodman's New York factory and learned about an injection molding machine,[12] invented in Germany in the early 1920s.

[12] Molding technology made it possible for Foster Grant to make not only combs, but a wide variety of other articles, including plastic sunglasses, selling 20 million pair in 1937.

His "wonderbowl," with its airtight "burping" seal became popular after Brownie Wise convinced him to demonstrate and sell Tupperware at home parties.

Inexpensive land cost has also made the city an attractive living destination for commuters to both Worcester and Boston.

[11] On September 11, 2023, heavy rains caused significant floods, leading to major damage to the city, and a state of emergency was declared.

To the east, lies the Monoosnoc Brook which winds through the center of town and was an important power source for early manufacturers.

In the early 20th century, on Lincoln Terrace, immigrating Italian families began to arrive in the area and built a semi-closed society which existed for many years.

Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.00% of the population (7.9% Puerto Rican, 2.0% Uruguayan, 1.1% Dominican, 0.7% Mexican, 0.3% Guatemalan, 0.3% Colombian).

Leominster has a long cultural history including various theatres, performance groups, exhibits and entertainment events.

The Leominster Colonial Band, founded by Italian immigrants in 1910, has presented a free summer concerts series since the 1930s.

[35] At the exhibition, a high school senior from Central Massachusetts is award a $500 scholarship annually to continue their art education[35] The Starburst Festival is held every June at Doyle Field.

[35] The festival includes live entertainment, concessions, musical presentations, and a band concert by the Starburst Orchestra and fireworks, drawing over 8,000 visitors each year.

[42] The reservation includes the Doyle Conservation center which houses the trustees Central Massachusetts headquarters, conference meeting rooms, and serves as an event venue.

Leominster High School has a long tradition of excellence in sports, and success is a huge focal point for the city.

Legendary Leominster football players and coaches include Lou Little, Ronnie Cahill, Shane Fallon, and Frank Novak.

Leominster currently hosts New England Football League semi-pro team, the Central Mass Sabercats.

[50][51] In order to secure finances for the new structure, a library trustee applied for aid from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

[53] In 2018, the school district controversially paid $10,000 in ransom money to hackers in order to recover its computer systems after they were infected with the WannaCry ransomware and adequate backups were not available.

[54] The Sentinel & Enterprise, a daily paper based in Fitchburg, is the main source of printed media in Leominster.

WCMX/1000 is a daytime-only religious radio station with Leominster as its community of license (it is based at the Twin City Baptist Temple in Lunenberg, however).

On FM, there is a community radio station: WLPZ-LP/95.1, which was founded in 2017 and is managed by city resident Sonny Levine, with an all-volunteer staff.