A window display at a wig shop on North Washington Street.

Just 12 miles from Providence and 32 miles from Boston, North Attleborough has experienced steady residential growth over the years, as well as strong commercial development along Route 1, most notably the Emerald Square Mall, just off Route 295.

But North Attleborough has been a commuter stop of sorts for many years, well before English colonists arrived in the Bay State. It was the site of a former Indian trail, the Bay Path, linking Boston to Narragansett Bay and the Seekonk River.

Although most new residential construction in town occurs in the outlying subdivisions, North Attleborough has a large downtown residential district within walking distance to the restaurants, shops, churches, schools and town buildings on South Washington Street.

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The downtown area “is definitely the historic district of North Attleborough, and it’s close to the shops, the library,” said Wendie Fillmore-Palermo, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker and a native of Attleboro. Fillmore-Palermo has been selling real estate for 11 years.

In addition to a wide variety of single-family houses, the downtown has condominiums and plenty of multifamily residences. The downtown also is home to a town pool, a skating rink, Community School, a public elementary school and St. Mary-Sacred Heart School, a Catholic institution. The town spent $7 million two years ago to turn a former jewelry factory in the heart of the downtown area on South Washington Street into the new police headquarters, partly to support the vitality of the downtown business district.

That vitality was threatened in 1989, when Emerald Square opened, according to Malorie Johnson, of Attleboro, who works at a downtown shop, Yarn It All. She said several downtown clothing stores were soon forced to shut their doors. But in recent years, restaurants, a natural foods store and other types of businesses have opened downtown, including the yarn shop, which moved from a Route 1 location about a year ago, she said.

There were 129 single-family houses listed for sale in North Attleborough this month, ranging in price from $170,000 for a two-bedroom Cape to $1.4 million for a house in Westwood Estates, a subdivision that was the home of football star Adam Vinatieri until last year, when he left the Patriots for the Indianapolis Colts, according to Fillmore-Palermo.

cdunn@projo.com