Billerica

In the early 1630s, a Praying Indian village named Shawshin was located here. By 1652, settlers from Cambridge and Charlestown Village settled in the area, incorporated as Billerica in 1655, and named it after the town of Billericay in Essex co., England.

Explore

Jonathan Danforth House site marker, Boston Road. One of the first settlers of Billerica, Danforth was summoned to witness against Martha Carrier but didn’t appear, claiming he had nothing to say.

Old Corner Burying Ground, Pollard Street (1707). Map and index online. Descendants of Roger Toothaker (1634-1692) who died in prison.

South Burying Ground, junction of Concord Road and French Street (1663). Map and index online. Epitaphs and photographs at Billerica Library. The land was given to the town by Roger Toothaker’s stepfather, Ralph Hill Sr.

Town Meeting House (1660) site marker, on the Common by the bandstand, Cummings Street.

Research

Billerica Historical Society, 36 Concord Road. Many genealogies available.

Billerica Public Library, 15 Concord Road. Open during regular library hours, the Local History Room includes maps, city directories, newspapers, periodicals, church records, vital records (including later years from Town Reports), cemetery catalogs, genealogies, and electronic resources. Witchcraft in Billerica overview.

Online Books & Records

Billerica, Massachusetts: History captured on glass. Photographs from late 1890s to 1912 captured by Natt Hutchins, with assistance from H. W. Sheldon.

Historical Memoir of Billerica by John Farmer (1816)

History of Billerica, Massachusetts: with a Genealogical Register by Rev. Henry Allen Hazen (1883)

Old Families of the First Parish, Billerica by Mrs. M. H. Sage (1898)

Vital Records of Billerica to the Year 1850