Middlesex County was created in May 1643 as one of Massachusetts’ three original counties and was named for Middlesex, England. The county seat is Cambridge, the home of Harvard University (founded 1636), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1861), Boston College (1863) in Chestnut Hill–Newton, Tufts University (1852) in Medford, and Bentley College (1917) and Brandeis University (1948) in Waltham. Lowell, to the north, is the nation’s first planned industrial community (incorporated town, 1826). Connected by Battle Road, Lexington and Concord were the first battlefields of the Revolutionary Way.
