Chelmsford is a growing city with more than 34,000 residents living about 24 miles northwest of Boston. Originally a great farming community in the 1800s, it served a critical role in the Industrial Revolution as it eventually became one of the first large-scale factory towns in the United States.
For centuries after, Chelmsford remained a popular place for many well-known people and buildings. Ralph Waldo Emerson opened a school there in 1825. It was also the birthplace of the first school for the deaf in 1866. Additionally, the Chelmsford Spring Co. opened in Chelmsford in 1901, and was acquired by Canada Dry in 1928.
Chelmsford’s climate is average compared to the northeast, where summers are warm and humid, and winters are cold and windy. However, with this northeastern climate often comes a variety of pests that Chelmsford residents run into throughout the year.