A pressing need for a place of worship and communal service to cater for the needs of  the community of Sikhs in Sommerville and its surrounding cities, including Boston led to the setting up of Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar, Sommerville in September of 1997.

The Gurdwara was the result of pooling of talent and resources amongst members of the community. The history of the Gurdwara is a story of sorts that parallels the development of the Sikh Community in Sommerville, Cambridge, Malden, Medford and the city of Boston. The Gurdwara is now attended by members from as far as North Andover and Woburn. The Gurdwara  began as a prayer service that was conducted in the houses of Sikhs who were members of the community. About six months later, the community rented a premises at 62 Summer Street, Sommerville, and then for another two years at 251 Highland Avenue. As the community grew bigger, the Gurdwara shifted to larger rented premises at 76 (Rear) Central Street, Somerville.

In May 2003 the Sangat purchased a building in the commercial hub of Medford and converted it to a Gurdwara. In January 2004, the Gurdwara moved to this  new premises at 226 Mystic Avenue, Medford, which consists of two Diwans (prayer halls), a library, a 700 sq foot fully furnished Granthi Living Quarters, conference room, office, langgar hall and a full sized commercial kitchen.