Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Fitchburg

FITCHBURG, a city of the United States, one of the capitals of Worcester county, Massachusetts, is situated on a branch of the Nashua river, 40 miles W.N.W. of Boston. It includes the villages of Crockerville, Rockville, South Fitchburg, Traskville, and West Fitchburg. It is the terminus of four railways—to Boston, Worcester, Brattleboro, and Keene and Bellows Falls. The principal buildings are the masonic hall, the city hall, the jail, the court-house, and the high school. It has woollen, cotton, and paper mills, machine shops, chair manufactories, iron foundries, and brass foundries. Fitchburg was originally included under Lunenburg. It was incorporated as a separate town in 1764, and became a city in 1872. The population in 1860 was 7805, and in 1870 it amounted to 11,260, 2517 being foreigners.