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Town of Chelmsford Annual Reports 1874-Present Now Available Online

The Annual Reports for the Town of Chelmsford have all been digitized, and are now available full-text online.

This online archive is the result of grant, provided by the Boston Public Library and the Internet Archive to scan the Town Reports. Annual reports from both the Library and the Chelmsford Historical Society are included, and everything is available at http://www.archive.org/details/chelmsfordpubliclibrary.

The reports are full-text searchable, and you can read them online or download them in a variety of formats.

For help with the reports, or questions about Chelmsford history, please contact the Reference Desk.

Town-Wide History Project

The Chelmsford Library and many other groups in town are beginning a Town-Wide History Project. The goal of the project is to create a master index of local historical records, preserve these original and irreplaceable records, and digitize as much of it as possible.

The first step of the project was to ask local organizations and Town departments with historical records or artifacts to complete a Preliminary Survey (download the survey [pdf]). This was to give us an idea of how much and what kind of historical records each group has, and where this information is stored. The next step will be visiting each location to conduct a direct inventory of the records.

The project will also include inviting experts in the field to speak at the library about preserving historic information, both for Town and personal use. We expect this project to take years to complete in full, especially the digitization of records. But once information is preserved and digitized, it will be much easier for historians, genealogists, and anyone curious about the history of Chelmsford, its buildings, parks and citizens, to access through the internet.

We've created a Chelmsford History Project webpage to keep track of the project progress, and we invite the public to participate as much as possible. Although the project is currently focusing on local churches, organizations and Town departments, we recognize that many private collections in peoples' homes are of great value as well.

If you'd like to be involved, know of a historical collection, or just have questions about the project, please contact Brian Herzog, Head of Reference, at bherzog@mvlc.org or 978-256-221 x111.