Loading map...

1950 Map of Billerica

Name: 1950 Topographic Map of Billerica
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1960
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1960

About this map

The Concord River carves a winding path through this mid-century landscape, linking the industrial fringes of South Lowell with the expanding residential clusters of Billerica and Chelmsford Center. The geography is defined by a transition from traditional mill-and-rail infrastructure to modern institutional footprints, visible in the presence of the House of Correction and the extensive U S Veterans Hospital grounds near Bedford Springs. Significant local history is preserved in the numerous burial grounds, including the Edson Cem and St Joseph Cem, which sit alongside the Boston and Maine RR corridors.

Water management and conservation are central to the terrain, from the large State Forest tracts to the industrial Water Works at North Billerica. Small ponds and marshlands like Winning Pond and Cranberry Bog punctuate the wooded hills, reflecting the region's natural hydrology before later twentieth-century development. This 1950 revision illustrates a community maintaining its post-war character, where country roads like Lowell Road connect scattered schools and mission sites.