Less than twenty years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, a group of intrepid pioneers set out for the Shawsheen Wilderness, named by the Native American population inhabiting its woods and rivers. By 1655, the group incorporated the settlement, naming it Billerica, after Billericay, England, the home of many of the Pilgrims. With images from glass-plate negative collections unseen for generations, Billerica takes a pictorial journey through the past of this Yankee Doodle town. Stories are captured as Billerica progresses from a small farming village to an Industrial Revolution capital with mills, railyards, and the Middlesex Canal (the first of its kind in the country). Billerica introduces some of the most influential people in the history of Billerica and showcases its heyday as a summer resort, when tourists traveled by trolley to enjoy a wealth of river and lake recreation.

From its pre-Colonial origins to the hustle and bustle of today, Billerica has remained a thriving village with something for everyone. Surrounded by lakes, rivers, and footpaths that became the building blocks of the state's road system, Billerica's history reflects the growth trends of a young nation--a history steeped in courage, independence, prosperity, and celebration. Originally the Shawshin Wilderness, the fledgling settlement took the name Billerica and was incorporated as a town in 1655. The territory initially included lands that would become parts of Bedford, Tewksbury, Wilmington, and Carlisle. For the next three centuries, farmers, weavers, merchants, millers, and craftsmen sought out Billerica for its agricultural opportunity, potential waterpower, recreational attractions, and strategic travel routes.