North Chelmsford, Massachusetts

Last updated

A.W. Vinal statue in Vinal Square, or North Chelmsford Center VinalStatue.JPG
A.W. Vinal statue in Vinal Square, or North Chelmsford Center

North Chelmsford is an unincorporated village in the town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, United States. Although North Chelmsford has its own zip code (01863), library, post office, fire station, water district, and local calling area, it is otherwise run by the same local town government and shares a school district with Chelmsford.

Contents

North Chelmsford is smaller and more densely populated than neighboring Chelmsford. North Chelmsford's separate identity, though not a seriously debated issue, is still a topic of discussion - the Lowell Sun ran an article on August 7, 2005, titled "Chelmsford's civil war still raging on." [1]

Education

Chelmsford High School is located in North Chelmsford. Most students who live in North Chelmsford go to Harrington Elementary School and later, Parker Middle School.

Government and infrastructure

The Fay A. Rotenberg School, a juvenile correctional facility for girls operated by the Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps, Inc. on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services, first opened in North Chelmsford in 1982; this facility, which had 16 beds, [2] was on Princeton Street, near the border with Lowell. [3] In 2006 the school moved to its current location in Westborough. [4]

Geography

With its proximity to Lowell, numerous mills still stand in North Chelmsford. The Mill, North Chelmsford MA.jpg
With its proximity to Lowell, numerous mills still stand in North Chelmsford.

North Chelmsford is along the Merrimack River and Stony Brook. Freeman Lake, originally on maps as Newfield Pond (or as it used to be known, Crystal Lake, due to an ice company with the same name once located where the dam is today) sits alongside Route 40 a short distance from Vinal Square. It is also the site of Varney Park, the Chelmsford Senior Center, and the North Chelmsford Water District. In 1986 the lake was given its new name in honor of Bruce Freeman, who paid to have the dam reconstructed following its collapse in 1970 (which drained the lake).

North Chelmsford is centered on the intersection of 3A, 40, and a few local roads. This intersection is known as Vinal Square, after local World War I Private Alberton W. Vinal, who was killed in France. [5] A stone monument is dedicated to him and Chelmsford's other World War I fatalities on the Square's common.

Transportation

U.S. Route 3 has two signed North Chelmsford exits - one for Route 40 (Exit 86), the other for Drum Hill (Exit 84).

A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter rail station is proposed to be located in North Chelmsford should a proposed extension of the Lowell Line to Nashua, New Hampshire, be completed.

Notable person

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middlesex County, Massachusetts</span> County in Massachusetts, United States

Middlesex County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002, making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and the 22nd most populous county in the United States. Middlesex County is one of two U.S. counties to be amongst the top 25 counties with the highest household income and the 25 most populated counties. It is included in the Census Bureau's Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan Statistical Area. As part of the 2020 United States census, the Commonwealth's mean center of population for that year was geo-centered in Middlesex County, in the town of Natick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billerica, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Billerica is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 42,119 according to the 2020 census. It takes its name from the town of Billericay in Essex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelmsford, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Chelmsford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westford, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Westford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was at 24,643 at the time of the 2020 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pelham, New Hampshire</span> Town in New Hampshire, United States

Pelham is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,222 at the 2020 census, up from 12,897 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilmington, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Wilmington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population was 23,349 at the 2020 United States census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 3</span> Highway in the United States

U.S. Route 3 (US 3) is a United States Numbered Highway running 277.90 miles (447.24 km) from Cambridge, Massachusetts, through New Hampshire, to the Canada–United States border near Third Connecticut Lake, where it connects to Quebec Route 257.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 495 (Massachusetts)</span> Highway in Massachusetts

Interstate 495 (I-495) is an auxiliary route of I-95 in the US state of Massachusetts, maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Spanning 121.56 miles (195.63 km), it is the second-longest auxiliary route in the Interstate Highway System, being roughly 11 miles (18 km) shorter than I-476 in Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Route 2</span> State highway in Massachusetts, United States

Route 2 is a 142.29-mile-long (228.99 km) major east–west state highway in Massachusetts, United States. Along with Route 9 and U.S. Route 20 to the south, these highways are the main alternatives to the Massachusetts Turnpike/I-90 toll highway. Route 2 runs the entire length of the northern tier of Massachusetts, beginning at the New York border, where it connects with New York State Route 2, and ending near Boston Common in Boston. Older alignments of Route 2 are known as Route 2A.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Route 4</span> State highway in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, US

Route 4 is an 18.26-mile-long (29.39 km) state highway in northeastern Massachusetts. It runs south to north, serving many of Boston's western and northwestern suburbs, from an interchange with Route 2 in Lexington northwest to an intersection with Route 3A in North Chelmsford. Much of it, north of Lexington, runs parallel to U.S. Route 3. The entire route is contained within Middlesex County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mammoth Road</span> North-south road in New England, U.S.

Mammoth Road is a north–south road in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The road runs from its origin in Lowell, Massachusetts to its northern end in Hooksett, New Hampshire, a suburb of Manchester. The total length of the road is 29.3 miles (47.2 km). It was named "Mammoth" in the hope that the convenience of its directness and elimination of smaller connecting roads between thoroughfares would result in sufficient use and prestige as to "kill all the other roads".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Route 27</span> Highway in Massachusetts, United States

Route 27 is a 73.44-mile-long (118.19 km) south–north state highway in eastern Massachusetts. Its southern terminus is at Route 106 in Kingston and its northern terminus is at Route 4 in Chelmsford. Along the way it intersects several major highways including Route 24 in Brockton, U.S. Route 1 in Walpole, Route 9 in Natick, US 20 in Wayland, and Route 2 in Acton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Route 40</span> State highway in Middlesex County, MA, US

Route 40 is a 10.46-mile-long (16.83 km) east–west state route located in northeastern Massachusetts, entirely within Middlesex County. The short highway connects Groton and Chelmsford. Its western end is at an intersection with Massachusetts Route 119 and Massachusetts Route 225 in Groton, and its eastern end is at Route 3A in North Chelmsford. The route has existed since the late 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Billerica, Massachusetts</span> Village of the town of Billerica, Massachusetts, US

North Billerica is an unincorporated village of the town of Billerica, Massachusetts, United States, one of the nine sections (hamlets) that make up the Town of Billerica. It is the home to Faulkner and Talbot mills and the North Billerica Train Depot. The Middlesex Canal was built through the village in 1783 and the Boston and Lowell Railroad was put through in the 1840s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middlesex Turnpike (Massachusetts)</span>

The Middlesex Turnpike was an early turnpike between Cambridge and Tyngsborough, Massachusetts and the New Hampshire border, where it connected with the Amherst Turnpike and thence Nashua and Claremont, New Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay Circuit Trail</span> Long-distance hiking trail in the United States

The Bay Circuit Trail and Greenway or Bay Circuit is a Massachusetts rail trail and greenway connecting the outlying suburbs of Boston from Plum Island in Newburyport to Kingston Bay in Duxbury, a distance of 200 miles (320 km).

The Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) is a state agency of Massachusetts. Its administrative office is headquartered in 600 Washington Street, Boston. The agency operates the state's juvenile justice services and facilities for incarcerated of children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotaries in Massachusetts</span>

This is a list of roundabouts in the state of Massachusetts in the United States. Intersections that are called traffic circles or roundabouts in the rest of the US are referred to as "rotaries" in Massachusetts, as well as other parts of New England including parts of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine Rhode Island, & Vermont.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westborough, Massachusetts</span> Town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, US

Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 Census, in over 7,000 households. Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed by a five-member elected Board of Selectmen whose duties include licensing, appointing various administrative positions, and calling a town meeting of citizens annually or whenever the need arises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middlesex County Training School</span> Former reform school in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts

The Middlesex County Training School is a former reform school located in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts. After its closure, its buildings were purchased by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, which utilized its buildings for its College of Education. Today, the school's records are housed in the Massachusetts Archives.

References

  1. ↑ Chabot, Hillary (August 7, 2005). "Chelmsford's civil war still raging on". The Lowell Sun . Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Fay A. Rotenberg School North Chelmsford, Massachusetts" (Archive). Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps. December 30, 2006. Retrieved on December 24, 2015.
  3. ↑ Fenn, Jennifer. "Struggle to help teen girls in trouble" (Archive). Lowell Sun . April 16, 2005. Retrieved on December 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Celebrating 30 Years of Service to Young Women" (Archive). Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps. January 12, 2012. Retrieved on December 24, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Chelmsford Historical Commission History File". Archived from the original on May 13, 2005.

42°38′20″N71°22′58″W / 42.63889°N 71.38278°W / 42.63889; -71.38278

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.