At the end of Elm St in North Woburn, in the Baldwin Historic District, stands a red farmhouse built in 1714. On March 26, 1753, this modest home became the birthplace of one of Woburn’s most famous citizens, Benjamin Thompson, later Count Rumford: soldier, statesman, inventor, and scientist.
One of Sir Benjamin Thompson’s most popular inventions was the Rumford Fireplace. The poorly designed fireplaces of the time wasted heat and produced dense clouds of smoke.