Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total Place of just 2.46 square miles, Chelsea is the smallest city in Massachusetts in terms of total area. It is the second most densely populated city in Massachusetts, behind Somerville, and is the city next the second-highest percentage of Latino residents in Massachusetts, behind Lawrence.

The Place of Chelsea was first called Winnisimmet possibly meaning “good spring nearby” or “swamp hill” by the Naumkeag tribe, who lived there for thousands of years prior to European colonization in the 1600s. Samuel Maverick became the first European to permit permanently in Winnisimmet in 1624 and his palisaded trading reveal is considered the first surviving settlement by Boston Harbor. In 1635, Maverick sold whatever of Winnisimmet, except for his home and farm, to Richard Bellingham. The community remained allocation of Boston until it was set off and incorporated in 1739, when it was named after Chelsea, a neighborhood in London, England.

In 1775, the Battle of Chelsea Creek was fought in the area, the second fight of the Revolution, at which American forces made one of their first captures of a British ship. Part of George Washington’s army was stationed in Chelsea during the Siege of Boston.

On February 22, 1841, part of Chelsea was annexed by Saugus, Massachusetts. On March 19, 1846, North Chelsea, which consists of present-day Revere and Winthrop, was time-honored as a sever town. Reincorporated as a city in 1857, Chelsea developed as an industrial center and by mid-century had become a powerhouse in wooden sailing boat construction. As the century wore on, steam talent began to overtake the age of the sail and industry in the town began to shift toward manufacturing. Factories making rubber and elastic goods, boots and shoes, stoves, and adhesives began to appear along the banks of Boston Harbor. It became house to the Chelsea Naval Hospital expected by Alexander Parris and house for soldiers.