Chelsea, city, Suffolk County, eastern Massachusetts, on the Mystic River; incorporated as a city 1857. It is an industrial suburb northeast of Boston and a port with oil storage tanks, produce-distributing facilities, and a great variety of manufactures. A state soldiers home and a veterans hospital are here. Chelsea was settled in 1624 as Winnisimmet and in 1739 was set off from Boston and renamed for the Chelsea section of London. The city was rebuilt after almost complete destruction by fire in 1908. Population 25,431 (1980); 28,710 (1990); 35,080 (2000).
