Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Concord, Cambridge, and Lowell, are the shire towns. The surface of the county is uneven and the soil various. It presents a great variety for admiration of the patriot, scholar, farmer, mechanic, and the painter. It is bounded N. by New Hampshire; N.E. by the county of Essex; S.E. by Charles river, Boston harbor, and Norfolk county; and W. by the county of Worcester. Area, 800 square miles; population, in 1820, 61,476; 1830, 77,968; 1837, 98,565. Population to a square mile, 123. The principal rivers in this county, are the Merrimack, Charles, Mystic, Sudbury, Concord, and Nashua. The Middlesex Canal passes through its northeastern section. In 1837 there were 5,166 sheep in the county. The value of manufactures for the year ending April 1, 1837, amounted to $15,008,028. Fishery, same year, $33,000.
