South and East Chelmsford

The village of South Chelmsford evolved around an intersection of market roads with a few stores and a church in support of a quiet farming community. Heart Pond provided water for the Nickles Cranberry Company, ice for the Daniel Gage Ice Company, and now recreational activities for locals and visitors. Entrepreneur Ezekiel Byam exploited new developments to manufacture the first practical matches in America, and the arrival of the railroad in 1873 enabled convenient transport of goods and passengers. A large part of East Chelmsford was quietly purchased by a group of Boston businessmen in the 1820s. Their new venture first roared into the industrial age as a town and then as the city of Lowell. In the 1950s, State Route 3 and Interstate 495 sliced East Chelmsford into four isolated sections, and the story that remains is that of immigrant families, subdivided farmland, and a handful of businesses on the outskirts of a major city.

Fred Merriam is passionate about the vintage photograph collection at the Chelmsford Historical Society and sharing local history through his websites, lectures, and published books. Descendants of South and East Chelmsford families loaned photographs and shared family memories for all to enjoy in this book.