TOWN OF TEWKSBURY

Northeastern Massachusetts, bordered by Lowell on the west, Dracut on the north, Andover on the northeast, Wilmington on the southeast, and Billerica on the south. Tewksbury is 4 miles southeast of Lowell, 21 miles north of Boston, and 230 miles from New York City.

Town of Tewksbury's website

 

TOWN SERVICES:  

TOWN CONTACTS (as of May 2004)

Board of Selectmen (978) 640 – 4300
Charles E. Coldwell- Chairman
Douglas W. Sears
Joseph P. Gill Jr.
Jerome E. Selissen
John F. Ryan 

Town Manager (978) 640 – 4300
David G. Cressman 

Town Clerk (978) 640 – 4355
Elizabeth A. Carey 

Building Commissioner (978) 640 – 4430
Richard A. Colantuoni 

Director of Planning and Conservation (978) 640 – 4370
Sean T. Sullivan 

Planning Board (978) 640-4370
David J. Plunkett - Chariman
Vincent W. Spada
Robert A. Fowler
Frank R. Sweet
Nancy L. Reed

Conservation Commission: (987) 640-4370
Stanley Folta 
Sal Torname
Gregory Peters
Michael Kelley
Andrew Stack

Public Works Department: (978) 640-4440
Toma Duhani - Superintendent

Public Water System:
Approximately 98% of the town is serviced by the public water system. The Town operates a water treatment plant along the Merrimack River that has the capacity of 3.5 million gallons per day. The plant pumps an average of 2.6 million gallons per day. The Town is planning water treatment plant expansion that would double the plant’s pumping power. 

Trash Collection:
The Town has curbside trash collection and recycling. In FY99, Tewksbury residents disposed of approximately 11,400 tons of solid waste and recycled 1,431 tons. 

Sewer:
Public sewer services approximately 35% of the town. Wastewater is treated at the Lowell Wastewater Utility Plant. 

Library:
The Tewksbury Public Library is located at the corner of Main Street and Chandler Streets. Library holdings including books, magazines, audio and video tapes totaling 53,100 items. 

Schools:
Tewksbury School System is made up of five k – 4 elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. 1999 – 2000 enrollment: 4,350. Tewksbury is also a member of the Shawsheen Valley Technical High School. 

Public Safety:
57 permanent officers staff Tewksbury Police Dept. The Fire Dept. roster totals 49 full – time firefighters.

Chief of Police: Chief Alfred Donovan (978) 640-4381

Chief of Fire Dept.: Chief Thomas Ryan (978) 640-4411 

 Rail:
Commuter rail service to North Station, Boston is available at Lowell Gallagher Terminal (Travel Time: 50 min) or at North Billerica Station (Travel Time: 40 min). Freight rail service is available from Guilford Transportation, contact number: (978) 663 - 1073 

Bus:
Tewksbury is a member of the Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA). Fixed bus service is provided, and paratransit services, including medical trips to Boston, are available for the elderly and disabled through the LRTA’s Road Runner program.   

FY2003 TAX RATE: Residential - $10.39 per $1,000, Commercial- $18.87 per $1,000

Population Trends – Tewksbury (2000 U.S. Census) 
(Updated May 25, 2002)

1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	#Change 1990-2000	%Change 1990-2000
15,902	22,755	24,635	27,266	28,851	1,585	5.8%

 

Persons by Sex (2000 U.S. Census) 

Male	14,141
Female	14,710

 

Age Distribution (2000 U.S. Census) 

	Persons	%
Under 5	2,020	7.0
5 – 14	4,143	14.4
15 – 44	12,291	42.6
45 – 64	7,086	24.6
65 & over	3,311	11.5

 

 Race and Ethnicity (2000 U.S. Census) 

	Persons	%
White	27,824	96.4
Black	194	0.7
Am Indian, Eskimo or Aleut	36	0.1
Asian or Pacific Islander	460	1.6
Hispanic Origin	352	1.2

 

Households (2000 U.S. Census) 

1980	1990	2000
6,454	8,744	9,964

 

Household Size (2000 U.S. Census) 

2.81 persons per household 

Poverty Status (2000 U.S. Census) 

Persons Below Poverty Level:	Tewksbury	Mass.
	1,074	573,421
	3.8%	9.3%

 

Households by Type (2000 U.S. Census)                                   

	Households	%
Married Couple/ Family	6,483	65.1
Female Householder	909	9.1
Non-Family Household	2,269	22.8

 

Income Distribution (2000 U.S. Census) 

	Households	%
Less than $ 10,000	263	2.6%
$ 10,000 - $ 14,999	313	3.1%
$ 15,000 - $ 24,999	613	6.2%
$ 25,000 - $ 34,999	728	7.3%
$ 35,000 - $ 49,999	1,276	12.8%
$ 50,000 - $ 74,999	2,299	23.1%
$ 75,000 - $ 99,999	1,987	20.0%
$ 100,000 - $ 149,999	2,037	20.5%
$ 150,000 - $ 199,999	287	2.9%
$ 200,000 or more	152	1.5%

 

Sources of Income (2000 U.S. Census) 

	# Of Households	Average Income
Wage & Salary	8,680	$74,236
Social Security	2,446	$11,654
Supplemental Security	229	$8,691
Public Assistance	162	$4,919
Retirement	1,735	$14,249

 

HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS 

Housing Units (2000 U.S. Census) 

1970	1980	1990	2000
5,271	6,640	8,950	10,158

 

Median Household Income (2000 U.S. Census) 

1970	1980	1990	2000
$11,860	$24,748	$49,833	$68,800

 

Median Home Sale Price (Banker & Tradesman) 

	1992	1994	1996	1998	2000
1 – Family	$137,250	$148,500	$162,500	$177,000	$230,000
Condo	$99,900	$99,900	$109,900	$133,000	$169,000
All Sales	$122,500	$123,500	$128,900	$154,900	$202,000

 

Housing Unit Permit Data 

1990	1992	1994	1996	1998	2000
200	88	81	89	110	102

 

Housing Breakdown by Occupancy (2000 U.S. Census) 

TOTAL HOUSING UNITS	10,158
Total Occupied Units	9,964	98.1%
Owner Occupied	8,877	89.1%
Renter Occupied	1,087	10.9%
Total Vacant	194	1.9%

 

LAND USE CLASSIFICATION (Mass. GIS 1991)

TEWKSBURY  LAND USE	ACREAGE	% OF TOTAL
Residential	4,876.01	36.1%
Commercial	274.19	2.0%
Industrial	568.06	4.2%
Agriculture	291.2	2.2%
Open Space/ Recreation	6,384.7	47.2%
Transportation/Mining/Waste	935.24	6.9%
Water	190.78	1.4%
TOTAL ACREAGE	13,520.18	100%

 

RECREATION 

Roy Patterson
Recreation Director
Tewksbury Recreation Dept.
999 Whipple Rd
Tewksbury, MA 01876
 (978) 640 – 4460 

Recreational Facilities:

Trull Brook Golf Course (126 Acres)
Golf, tennis, nature observation 

Open Space Site (48 Acres)
Nature observation 

Memorial High School (55 Acres)
Baseball/softball, football/soccer, general play. 

Livingston Street Park (31 Acres)
Basketball, general play, tennis. 

Rogers Park (27 Acres)
Nature observation 

Center School (25 Acres)
General play, tennis. 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

Employment Base – 2000

LABOR FORCE – 2000	17,891
# Residents Employed	17,490
# Residents Unemployed	401
Tewksbury Unemployment Rate	2.2%
NMCOG Region Unemployment Rate	2.5%
State Unemployment Rate	2.6%

 

Employment by Industry Sector – 2001 (Mass Division of Employment & Training ES - 202 Series)

Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing	135
Government	2,023
Construction	1,011
Manufacturing	2,870
TCPU	519
Trade	4,629
FIRE	753
Services	4,183
Total Employment/Tewksbury	16,123

TCPU = Transportation, Communications and Public Utilities
FIRE = Finance, Insurance and Real Estate
conf = Data suppressed due to confidentiality

Means Of Transportation To Work - 2000 (Census Transportation Planning Package 2000)

Subject	1990 Census		2000 Census		Change 1990 to 2000
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Workers 16 years and over	14,718	100.0	15,402	100.0	684	4.6
Drove alone	12,350	83.9	13,481	87.5	1,131	9.2
Carpooled	1,434	9.7	906	5.9	-528	-36.8
Public transportation (including taxicab)	251	1.7	452	2.9	201	80.1
Bicycle or walked	339	2.3	122	0.8	-217	-64
Motorcycle or other means	73	0.5	64	0.4	-9	-12.3
Worked at home	271	1.8	377	2.4	106	39.1

Travel Time to Work -  2000 (Census Transportation Planning Package 2000)

Subject	1990 Census		2000 Census		Change 1990 to 2000
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Workers who did not work at home	14,447	100.0	15,025	100.0	578	4.0
Less than 5 minutes	300	2.1	261	1.7	-39	-13.0
5 to 9 minutes	1,401	9.7	949	6.3	-452	-32.3
10 to 14 minutes	2,218	15.4	1,727	11.5	-491	-22.1
15 to 19 minutes	1,947	13.5	1,957	13.0	10	0.5
20 to 29 minutes	3,162	21.9	3,242	21.6	80	2.5
30 to 44 minutes	3,383	23.4	3,775	25.1	392	11.6
45 or more minutes	2,036	14.1	3,114	20.7	1,078	52.9
Mean travel time to work (minutes)	24.3	X	29.4	X	5.1	X

MEDIA:  

Lowell Sun
15 Kearney Square, Lowell, MA 01852
458 – 7100 

Tewksbury Town Crier
104 Lowell St. Wilmington, MA 01887
658 – 2346 

Media One
12 Washer St. Lowell, MA 

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCY:  

Northern Middlesex Council of Governments
115 Thorndike Street, Lowell, MA 01852
Robert W. Flynn, Executive Director
Phone: (978) 454 – 8021
Fax: (978) 454 – 8023