WILMINGTON

A short history of Wilmington

Wilmington was first settled in 1665 and was officially incorporated in 1730, from parts of Woburn, Reading, and Billerica. The first settlers are believed to have been Will Butter, Richard Harnden or Abraham Jaquith. Butter, a Scottish Covenanter who fought against Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War, was brought to Woburn as an indentured servant. He achieved his freedom, as did all indentured service, after nine years, then relocated to the opposite side of a large swamp (“the boggy part of Wooburne” “across the river") in what is now Wilmington. Harnden settled in Reading, in an area that is now part of Wilmington. Jaquith settled in an area of Billerica that became part of Wilmington in 1740.

The Middlesex Canal passed through Wilmington. Chartered in 1792, opened in 1803, it provided freight and passenger transport between the Merrimack River and Boston. One important cargo on the canal was hops. From the middle of the 18th century until the early 19th century, Massachusetts was the acknowledged leader in hop production in North America. Middlesex County in particular was famous for its hop yards, and Wilmington was the first place where the culture grew to a fever pitch.

When Lowell was built in the 1820s, the canal became a primary means of transporting cotton to and from the mills. It was abandoned in 1852 after the construction of the Boston and Lowell Railroad.

The Boston and Lowell Railroad was built in 1835. The line is now the oldest operating rail line in the U.S. Wilmington is also served by the Haverhill Division (the old B&M Portland Division). A spur track known as the Wildcat connects the Haverhill and Lowell divisions, following the path of the old Wilmington & Andover Railroad, the corporate ancestor of the Boston & Maine.

Wilmington is also home to the Col. Joshua Harnden Tavern, which probably served as a stop on the Underground Railroad and now houses the Wilmington Town Museum.

Since World War II, Wilmington's population has quadrupled. Interstate 93, Route 62, Route 129 and Route 38 run through town, and Route 128 is about a mile south of Wilmington.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Wilmington, Massachusetts, revision 1377176492 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.