Chelmsford (pronounced CHELMS-furd) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It's a place with a rich history and a strong community spirit.

Chelmsford became an official town in May 1655. Back then, its economy was based on things like cutting wood at lumber mills, digging for limestone in quarries, and making bricks in kilns. In the 1700s, the local Chelmsford militia (a group of citizen soldiers) helped fight in the American Revolution at important battles like Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill.

Later, in the 1820s, the farming area of East Chelmsford became the city of Lowell. Lowell grew into one of the first big factory towns in the U.S. during the Industrial Revolution. Chelmsford's population grew a lot between 1950 and 1970, partly because new highways made it easier to travel to and from the town.

Today, Chelmsford is governed by a representative town meeting, where citizens elect representatives to make decisions. The town is known for its good schools, including Chelmsford High School, which has been ranked among the top schools in the country. In 2011, Money magazine even called Chelmsford the 28th best place to live in the United States!

A Look Back in Time: Chelmsford's History
Where is Chelmsford?
Weather in Chelmsford
Who Lives in Chelmsford?
Learning in Chelmsford: Schools
Historic Places to Visit
Getting Around: Transportation
Famous People from Chelmsford
Images for kids
See also

A Look Back in Time: Chelmsford's History

Early Days and Native Americans

For thousands of years before Europeans arrived, the Pennacook people lived in the area that is now Chelmsford. European settlers from nearby towns like Woburn and Concord founded Chelmsford in 1652. It officially became a town in May 1655 and was named after Chelmsford, England. Other nearby towns, Groton and Billerica, were also formed around the same time.

Originally, Chelmsford was much larger. It included what is now Westford, parts of Carlisle and Tyngsborough, and a big part of Lowell (which was once called East Chelmsford).

Leaders of the Pennacook tribe, like Passaconaway and Wonalancet, tried to stay friends with the European settlers. However, the settlers often became violent, forcing the Pennacook to leave their homes. Many Pennacook eventually moved north to join relatives in Odanak. Even today, their descendants from the Abenaki First Nation and other tribes still consider Chelmsford part of their ancestral land.

Colonial Times and the Revolution

In the late 1600s, some women in Chelmsford, like Sarah (Hildreth) Byam and Martha Sparks, were suspected of being witches. In 1691, Martha was even held in the Boston Gaol (a jail) for witchcraft. She appeared in court but was set free after about a month, possibly because of the local minister's help.

In 1722, Chelmsford had a rule that fined people for keeping "strangers" in town for more than 30 days. This rule was sometimes used to keep out people based on their race, religion, or political views.

The Chelmsford militia played a big part in the American Revolution. They fought bravely at the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. Lieutenant Colonel Moses Parker from Chelmsford was wounded and captured at Bunker Hill and sadly died from his injuries on July 4, 1775. The Lieutenant Colonel Moses Parker Middle School in town is named after him. Captain Benjamin Walker, also from Chelmsford, was killed in the same battle.

Later History and Innovations

The Chelmsford Public Library in 1899

In 1825, famous writer Ralph Waldo Emerson opened a school in Chelmsford, though it only lasted a few months.

Chelmsford had one of the first schools for the deaf in 1866. It focused on teaching students to speak. This school later closed to make way for a larger deaf school called Clark School in Rowley.

Important transportation routes, the Middlesex Canal and Middlesex Turnpike, were built through Chelmsford in the early 1800s.

Chelmsford was also the birthplace of the Chelmsford Spring Co. in 1901, which later became the Chelmsford Ginger Ale Company. This company was bought by Canada Dry in 1928. The ginger ale plant was rebuilt in 1912 after a fire. The Chelmsford brand of golden ginger ale is still made today by Polar Beverages for local supermarkets.

Where is Chelmsford?

Typical houses in Chelmsford

Chelmsford is located in northern Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It's about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of downtown Boston and 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Nashua, New Hampshire.

Two important rivers border the town: the Merrimack River to the northeast and the Concord River on its eastern side.

The town covers about 23.1 square miles (59.8 square kilometers), with most of it being land and a small part being water.

Chelmsford has several distinct neighborhoods. Besides the main town center, there are areas like South Chelmsford, West Chelmsford, East Chelmsford, North Chelmsford, and the Westlands. North Chelmsford is quite unique and has some of its own town services.

Weather in Chelmsford

Weather chart for Chelmsford, Massachusetts

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temperatures in °F
precipitation totals in inches

Metric conversion

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
90 2 -8	72 3 -7	103 8 -3	96 14 2	93 21 8	85 25 13	91 28 16	87 27 15	86 23 10	100 17 4	97 11 -1	90 4 -6
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm

Like much of Massachusetts, Chelmsford has a humid continental climate. This means summers are usually warm and humid, while winters are cold, windy, and snowy. The amount of rain and snow is pretty consistent throughout the year.

On average, temperatures in Chelmsford are below 50°F (10°C) for about 195 days a year. The town gets about 44.1 inches (112 cm) of precipitation annually. Snow usually covers the ground for about 62 days each year.

Who Lives in Chelmsford?

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1850	2,097	—
1860	2,291	+9.3%
1870	2,374	+3.6%
1880	2,553	+7.5%
1890	2,695	+5.6%
1900	3,984	+47.8%
1910	5,010	+25.8%
1920	5,682	+13.4%
1930	7,022	+23.6%
1940	8,077	+15.0%
1950	9,407	+16.5%
1960	15,130	+60.8%
1970	31,432	+107.7%
1980	31,174	−0.8%
1990	32,383	+3.9%
2000	33,858	+4.6%
2010	33,802	−0.2%
2020	36,392	+7.7%
2022*	35,906	−1.3%
* = population estimate. Source: United States Census records and Population Estimates Program data.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Chelmsford had 33,802 people living there. Most residents were White (88.6%), with 8.4% being Asian, 1.1% African American, and other groups making up the rest. About 2% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino.

Learning in Chelmsford: Schools

The Chelmsford Public Schools district serves students from pre-Kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade. Here's a look at some of the schools:

Active Schools
Name	Grades	Enrolment
Charles D. Harrington Elementary School	Pre-K–4	586
Byam Elementary School	K–4	536
Center Elementary School	K–4	521
South Row Elementary School	K–4	473
Col. Moses Parker Middle School	5–6	757
C. Edith McCarthy Middle School	7–8	947
Chelmsford High School	9–12	1412

Chelmsford High School is well-regarded. In 2009, Boston Magazine ranked it 66th out of 150 public high schools. The school has a good student–teacher ratio of about 14.5 students for every teacher. In the 2006–2007 school year, students at Chelmsford High School scored well on the SAT tests. They also performed significantly better than the state average on the 2009 Grade 10 MCAS tests in English, math, and science.

Students in Chelmsford also have the option to attend Nashoba Valley Technical High School, which is located in Westford.

Historic Places to Visit

The Old Chelmsford Garrison House

Chelmsford has several places that are important to its history:

Chelmsford Center Historic District
Fiske House (built in 1798)
Hildreth-Robbins House (built in 1742)
Middlesex Canal (completed in 1802)
Old Chelmsford Garrison House (built in 1691), which is now a museum
Oliver Hutchins House (built in 1820)
Barrett-Byam Homestead (built in 1663) – this is home to the Chelmsford Historical Society
North Town Hall (built in 1853)

Getting Around: Transportation

Chelmsford is a key spot for travel because major U.S. highways, I-495 and U.S. 3, cross paths here. Several state routes also run through Chelmsford, including 3A, 4, 27, 40, 110, and 129. The very center of town is Central Square, where routes 4, 110, and 129 meet.

There used to be a busy traffic circle called the Drum Hill Rotary, which was known for accidents. It was taken down in 2003 and replaced with a safer intersection with traffic lights, now called Drum Hill Square. This change was part of a bigger project to widen U.S. Route 3.

Freight trains still travel daily through Chelmsford on the tracks of the historic Stony Brook Railroad. This line is an important corridor for trains connecting New Hampshire and Maine with other states.

The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail is a path that runs for 6.8 miles (11 km) through Chelmsford, including through Central Square. It's great for walking, biking, and running.

For public transportation, the LRTA bus routes 15, 16, and 17 connect Chelmsford to the Lowell train station. From there, you can take the MBTA Commuter Rail into Boston.

Famous People from Chelmsford

Many notable people have connections to Chelmsford:

Josiah Gardner Abbott (1814–1891), a politician born in Chelmsford.
Keith Aucoin (born 1978), a former professional hockey player.
Jeff Bauman (born 1986), an author and survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Phil Bourque (born 1962), another former professional hockey player.
George Condo (born 1957), a well-known painter.
Bill Cooke (born 1951), a former NFL football player.
Dan Curran (born 1976), a former NFL football player.
John Call Dalton (1825–1889), a physiologist born in Chelmsford.
Jack Eichel (born 1996), a current NHL hockey player.
Steve Hunt (born 1958), a jazz pianist and composer.
Ulysses John "Tony" Lupien (1917–2004), a Major League Baseball player and college baseball coach.
Jon Morris (born 1966), a former NHL hockey player.
Sandra Newman (born 1965), a writer.
Benjamin Pierce (1757–1839), born in Chelmsford, who became Governor of New Hampshire and was the father of U.S. president Franklin Pierce.
Jeffrey Snover, a Microsoft Technical Fellow and the inventor of PowerShell.
Kristen Wilson (born 1969), an actress.

Images for kids

The official seal of Chelmsford.
Map showing Chelmsford's location in Middlesex County.

Chelmsford, Massachusetts facts for kids

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