Editing Fitchburg, Massachusetts (section)

== History ==
[[File:Fitchburg, Mass. (2674486344).jpg|thumb|Print of Fitchburg from 1882 by [[L.R. Burleigh]] with listing of landmarks]]
Fitchburg was first settled in by Europeans in 1730 as part of [[Lunenburg, Massachusetts|Lunenburg]], and was officially set apart from that town and incorporated in 1764. The area was previously occupied by the [[Nipmuc]] tribe. It is named for John Fitch, one of the committee that procured the act of incorporation.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA126 | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=126}}</ref> In July 1748 Fitch and his family, living in this isolated spot, were abducted to [[Canada]] by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], but returned the next year.<ref>Ezra S. Stearns, ''John Fitch: An address with appendix'' (Fitchburg Historical Society) 1894:31.</ref>

Fitchburg is situated on both the [[Nashua River]] and a [[railroad]] line. The original [[Fitchburg Railroad]] ran through the [[Hoosac Tunnel]], linking [[Boston]] and [[Albany, New York]]. The tunnel was built using the Burleigh Rock Drill, designed and built in Fitchburg. Fitchburg was a 19th-century industrial center. Originally operated by [[water power]], large mills produced machines, tools, clothing, paper, and firearms. The city is noted for its [[architecture]], particularly in the [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] style, built at the height of its [[mill town]] prosperity. A few examples of these 19th century buildings are [[Fay Club|the Fay Club]], the old North Worcester County Courthouse<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dark-fetus.livejournal.com/125132.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206212859/http://dark-fetus.livejournal.com/125132.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 6, 2016|title=Old Fitchburg Courthouse |date=February 6, 2016}}</ref> and the Bullock house.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yankeemagazine.com/article/home-3/house-for-sale-fitchburg|title=Victorian house for sale Fitchburg MA|date=June 23, 2009}}</ref>

In 1922, it was affected by the [[1922 New England Textile Strike]], shutting down the mills in the city over an attempted wage cut.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last1=Foner |first1=Philip Sheldon |title=History of the labor movement in the United States. 9: The T.U.E.L. to the end of the Gompers era / by Philip S. Foner |last2=Foner |first2=Philip Sheldon |date= 1991 |publisher=Intl Publ |isbn=978-0-7178-0674-4 |location=New York |pages=19–31}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=E. Tilden |first=Leonard |date=1923 |title=New England Textile Strike |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41828627 |journal=Monthly Labor Review |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=13–36 |jstor=41828627 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thomas  |first=Edmund B. Jr.|date=January 1987 |title=The New England Textile Strike of 1922: Focus on Fitchburg |url=https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Thomas-combined.pdf |journal=Historical Journal of Massachusetts |volume=15 |issue=1}}</ref>

As the city is one of Worcester County's two shire towns, it has hosted the Northern Worcester County Registry of Deeds, established in 1903, and the county jail on Water Street.

In 1961, two films ''[[Return to Peyton Place (film)|Return to Peyton Place]]'' and ''[[By Love Possessed (film)|By Love Possessed]]'' filmed exterior street scenes, town squares and public buildings in Fitchburg.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055370/|title=Return to Peyton Place|date=May 5, 1961|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>