There has been an ice cream shop at 131 Gorham Street in Chelmsford since the late 1950’s. Before that time, the land was used as farmland and as a small farm stand for the Finnick family of Chelmsford who owned the property since the late 1800’s.
The Finnick House still stands on the property today at the top of the hill.
Finnick House – circa 1899
The following is a history of the various incarnations the ice cream shop went through since being built.
Year | Name of Stand | Owners | Comment |
1957 | Firth Farms | Tom & Clifford Firth | (brothers who built the stand and ran a turkey farm on the property) |
1959 | Pine Valley Farm | Lavoie’s Dairy of Lowell | (milk plant on Wilder St, Lowell) |
1962 | Crowley Farm | Crowley Family of Tewksbury | |
Spring 1973 | Little Maggie’s | Cavanaugh family of Tewksbury | |
Aug 9, 1973 | Gary’s Ice Cream | Gary Frascarelli | (Passed on the formulas that defined the business! – Single owner for 48 seasons) |
Mar 1, 2021 | Chelmsford Creamery | Gary passed the business on to 3 employees when he retired at the end of the 2020 Season |
This would make 131 Gorham St. the oldest ice cream shop still operating
in Chelmsford and one of the oldest in the Merrimack Valley .