138 NATURAL HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF GROTON, MASS. 



At a meeting of the select men Janeuary 10 1672 a commite 

 chussen to meet with concord men chelmesford men and Robert 

 blood to lay out the way to the bay betwene this and the spring 

 wheir it is most passable and the commite are maior willard sergent 

 parker James knop The maior hauing not tim to atend it Richard 

 Blood is chussen by the towne in his roume at a towne meeting 

 march 17 72-73 (pp. 44, 45). 



At a generall Town meeting febr 18 1680 It was then agreed 

 vpon and voted that the old Commitee chusen shold perfect their 

 work in laying out the hye way to Concord (p. 63). 



HIGHWAY TO CHELMSFORD. 



GROTON and Chelmsford were neighboring towns, and set- 

 tled at the same time, but for some years their means of inter- 

 communication were very limited. Originally, the road from 

 Groton to Boston was by way of Chelmsford, and the bridge 

 in Billerica over the Concord River, along the same thorough- 

 fare, was built in part by Groton. 



The Reverend Wilkes Allen, in his History of Chelmsford, 

 has the following: — 



Road to Groton — 1663. 



For many years the chief travel to Groton, was thro' this town. 

 Hence a road was laid out by a joint committee of Groton and 

 Chelmsford " beginning at Beaver brook-bridge, and running over 

 the north side of Robin's Hill thro' Richard Hildrith's yard to the 

 west end of Heart Pond, over the swamp to Thomas Chamberlin's 

 meadow, and so on towards Groton on the east side of Tad muck 

 great meadows." The towns of Billerica, Chelmsford, Groton 

 Townsend, Dunstable & Dracut. unitedly built the great bridge 

 over Concord river at Billerica, and for many years jointly main- 

 tained it (p. 18). 



Presumably this statement is made, in the main, on the 

 authority of the Chelmsford records ; but it is evident that 

 Dracut and Townsend could not have taken any part in build- 

 ing an early bridge, as they had not then been incorporated 

 as towns. 



