The Chelsea Town Hall is a Georgian Revival building and has a striking resemblance to Independence Hall. It was designed by Peabody & Stern, a Boston firm. The original Town Hall was located at a different location and burned to the ground in 1908. The switch from Chelsea Sq to Bellingham Sq. represented the shifting commercial and civic activity in the early 1900's.
The area of Chelsea was first called Winnisimmet (meaning "good spring nearby") by the Massachusett tribe, which once lived there. It was settled in 1624 by Samuel Maverick, whose palisaded trading post is considered the first permanent settlement at Boston Harbor. In 1635, Maverick sold all of Winnisimmet, except for his house and farm, to Richard Bellingham. The community remained part of Boston until it was set off and incorporated in 1739, when it was named after Chelsea, a neighborhood in London, England.
In 1775, the Battle of Chelsea Creek was fought in the area, the second battle of the Revolution, at which American forces made one of their first captures of a British ship. Part of George Washington's army was stationed in Chelsea during the Siege of Boston.
Chelsea originally included North Chelsea, which consisted of what is now Revere, Winthrop, and parts of Saugus. In 1846, North Chelsea was set off as a separate town. Reincorporated as a city in 1857, Chelsea developed as an industrial center, producing rubber and elastic goods, boots and shoes, stoves, and adhesives. It became home to the Chelsea Naval Hospital designed by Alexander Parris and home for soldiers. On April 12, 1908, nearly half the city was destroyed in the First Great Chelsea Fire. In 1973, the Second Great Chelsea Fire burned eighteen city blocks.
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