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ABOUT
BILLERICA |
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The Town
of Billerica Massachusetts is part of Middlesex County and is situated
24 road miles northwest of the City of Boston. The town's abutters are
Chelmsford and Lowell to the north, Wilmington and Tewksbury to the
east, Carlisle and Bedford to the west and Burlington to the south.
Regionally, the Town of Billerica is 19 miles north of Boston, 23 miles
northwest of Lynn, 45 miles northeast of Worcester, and 205 miles from
New York City. |
Billerica Common
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Nuttings Lake
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The Town
of Billerica is the only town in the United States to bear that name and
the sister town to Billerica, Billericay, is located in Great Britain.
The Town of Billerica, formerly a King's Grant tract from the colonial
days, was incorporated as a town in 1655. |
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The town,
with a population of 10,000 residents, was primarily based in
agriculture up to the 1850's, then the Faulkner Mills (still standing)
and others began business in North Billerica along the northerly flowing
Concord River. The town supported a modest level of industrial
development until the 1950's. The mills were replaced with a substantial
level of industrial development and residential development, largely
supported by the town's proximity to the major northeast highway
arteries (i.e., Interstate 95 to the south, Interstate 495 to the north
and US Route 3 running north and south through Billerica) and stimulated
by a relatively poor level of zoning regulations. |
Faulkner Mills
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Talbot Mill
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The
Town of Billerica has become a major regional employer and home to
several high technology firms, many of which are offshoots of companies
sited along Interstate 95 (a.k.a. Route 128) primarily in Waltham and
Lexington Massachusetts. |
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Billerica
has a current population of approximately 38,000 residents. The majority
of the new housing stock is located within residential subdivisions
created by the Zoning Enabling Act (Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter
40 et al). The town's older neighborhoods are located in the center of
town, in North Billerica, Pinehurst (to the southeast) and Nuttings Lake
(to the southwest). |
Clara
E. Sexton House
Headquarters of the Billerica Historical Society |
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Train Station
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The Lowell
Regional Transit Authority provides bus service and the Massachusetts
Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) provides rail connections to the
City of Boston and the City of Lowell from a regular train stop in North
Billerica.
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The
Middlesex Canal, that once provided cross-town water transport, has been
preserved, in part, near the Billerica and Wilmington town line along
Massachusetts Route 129. In addition to the Concord river, the Shawsheen
River in the southerly portion of the town, is the second major
waterway in the town and it serves as the emergency water supply of the
Town of Burlington. The state operated Middlesex House of Correction
located in West Billerica, houses nearly one thousand prisoners and
employs a significant staff.
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Middlesex Canal
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First Parish Church
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Even
though much of Billerica has been developed, there are still large
parcels of undeveloped land. The town has its own sewage disposal plant
and more that 45% of the residents and businesses have access to the
plant via an in-place sewer pipe network.
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The town
is experiencing a modest level of development, both residential and
industrial. The town has attempted to maintain its rural character, and
consistent with this intent, has acquired ownership (i.e., at
considerable expense) of a number of tracts of open land for
preservation purposes over the last ten years. |
Town Hall
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