The earliest settlers were Cornish lead miners; they were followed by settlers from New England, Ireland, Switzerland and Norway. The town has been the home of a Lutheran parish. Adams Lutheran Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was formed by Norwegian immigrants from the Valdres and Hadeland areas of Norway and was originally served by clergy of the Church of Norway. It later became a member of the Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Under the increasing influence of the Haugean pietist movement among Norwegian American clergy and parishes, it joined a group originally called the Friends of Augsburg, which subsequently became the Lutheran Free Church. Later, when it began to call its pastors from clergy of The American Lutheran Church, it became a member of that body. It became a member of the ELCA when the American Lutheran Ch…
Passages that mention Adams, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Vinton memorial, comprising a genealogy of the descendants of John Vinton of Lynn, 16481858 · page 295Read the page →
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It must not be supposed that Henrt Adams is the ancestor of all who bear the name in this country. This is very far from being the fact. There was a John Adams at Plymouth in 1621, a Jeremy Adams at Cambridge in 1632, a William Adams at Cambridge in 1635, a Ferdinando Adams at Dedharo in 16^, a Nathaniel Adams at Weymouth 1640, a Richard Adams at Weymouth 1642, Alexander Adams of Boston in 1648, Robert Adams of Newbury 1649, a Nathaniel Adams of Boston 1647, Charles Adams of Dover 1665, and nearly as many more in other places ; none of whom have lefl any trace of kindred
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The Vinton memorial, comprising a genealogy of the descendants of John Vinton of Lynn, 16481858 · page 297Read the page →
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Thomas and Samuel bought lands. While there, they petitioned for a new town, which they obtained and called Chelmsford. They sold out their lands in Concord, 1654, to Samuel Stratton ; and while Thomas and Samuel Adams removed and settled on the present site of Lowell, John Adams, a millwright, went to that part of Cambridge, now known as West Cambridge, where he built a mill on the small stream which runs from Lexington to West Cambridge, and empties into Mystic Pond ; and there no spent the remainder of his life. His will is dated
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Adams, 1849 to 1923
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
