Structure · Built 1894 · Demolished 1987
Central Block
Central Block
| Address | 438 Boston Rd |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.22 |
| Built | 1894 |
| Demolished | 1987 |
| Tenants | |
|
O'Connor Hardware (1954 - 1973)
Rustic House (1985 - 1985) |
|
| Other Lot Structures |
Golden More House (1658 -
1873)
Paul Hill House (1873 - 1986) O'Connor Hardware Plaza (Built 1987) |
The Central Block was a three-story wooden store and apartment building on the east side of Boston Road facing the Billerica Common, built in 1894 by Sidney A. Bull and torn down in 1987. It stood at the north end of the Boston Road frontage of the twelve-acre farm that also held the Paul Hill House, "The Walnuts", and it never had a separate deed: every recorded instrument covers the whole farm.
The land is the old homestead tract near the meeting house that Golden More gave to his son-in-law Caleb Farley Sr. in 1698. Joshua Abbott bought the Farley messuage in 1714 and sold some thirty acres with it to Oliver Abbot in 1757. After Oliver Abbot's death the homestead was set off to his daughter Dorcas, wife of Jonathan Bowers Jr., and Dorcas and her son Alexander sold it to George Bruce in 1810. Bruce's devisees conveyed "13 acres with the buildings" to Fitch Tufts in 1827, and after Tufts died his daughter Martha, as administratrix, sold twelve acres and twenty rods to Jefferson Cutter in 1854.
In 1873 Cutter sold the place to Paul Hill, the railroad contractor who built the mansard-roofed house called The Walnuts. Hill mortgaged it in 1879, 1887 and 1889, and on October 20, 1892 he and his wife Belinda sold "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon situated near the common" to Sidney A. Bull of Carlisle for $9,250, subject to a $5,000 mortgage to the Central Savings Bank of Lowell.
Bull had kept a store in Carlisle for nearly twenty-three years. He moved to Billerica in April 1893, worked the farm as a fruit orchard and sold fire insurance, and in 1894 put up the Central Block close to the road, its third story under a mansard roof that matched the one on his house. The registry indexes show no mortgage or lease for the new building. His brother John E. Bull opened a "fancy dry goods and furnishing store" there and kept it for more than thirty years; the 1901 directory lists him in "dry and fancy goods, Boston rd. opp. common", and in 1913 he advertised sleds, skates and valentines from "John E. Bull, Central Block, Billerica". Apartments occupied the upper floors. In 1922 Town Meeting voted Sidney Bull $88, half the cost of "a cement sidewalk 52 feet long and 7 feet wide in front of Central Block". By 1931 Harvey P. Brown sold dry goods in the block.
Sidney A. Bull died in 1944 at 96, and the farm passed by inheritance to his daughter Leila S. Stone, who granted the town a water main easement across it in 1967, and then through her estate to his grandson Robert W. Bull of New York. At some point, perhaps around 1950, a fire took the mansard story and the block was given a plain hip roof. J. P. O'Connor opened a hardware store at 438 Boston Road in 1954; in 1973 the building held one combined store with two apartments above, and O'Connor moved that year to Tower Farm Road.
In October 1985 Robert W. Bull sold the twelve acres "with the buildings thereon" to Centerpoint Developers, Inc. for $500,000, confirming the description in 1987. A plan to restore The Walnuts as an inn with the Central Block as its restaurant was turned down by the Board of Appeals in 1985. The March 1987 compilation plan of Lot 1 still draws the block at the north end of the frontage. In May 1987 Centerpoint sold Lot 1 to a Milwaukee developer for a shopping plaza; that year The Walnuts was moved a mile north and the Central Block was demolished, which the Historical Commission called damage "of course, irreparable" to the Billerica Common district. The site is now part of O'Connor Plaza, 446 Boston Road.
References
- MACRIS BIL.22
- Billerica assessor, 446 Boston Rd (parcel 51-86-2), O'Connor Plaza, which covers the site of the Central Block
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1698 | Deed | Golden More (Moore) | Caleb Farley Sr. | 1698: Golden More gives the homestead tract, later the Bull farm, to Caleb Farley Sr. | 12/242 (South) |
For love of "my Son in Law Caleb ffarley Senr" and 20 pounds to be paid to More's creditors, all his land, housing, malt house, orchard and town right, "particularly all my homestead whereon my dwelling house stands with all ye building upon it, and ye orchard," with his meadows on the Shawshin River, the further Great Meadow and Mill Swamp. Farley must keep "his aged ffather in Law" for life: meat, drink, clothing, a horse, a room and firewood in More's house or his own, three barrels of cider a year, the fruit of one pear tree and two apple trees, and half an acre of the orchard to plant. More had daughters but no son; Hazen notes the 1660 horse sheds stood by "Goldinge More's barn," which was on Paul Hill's land. Billerica town book 1, pages 247-249.
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| 1714 | Deed | Ebenezer Farley and Elizabeth Farley | Joshua Abbott | 1714: the Farley messuage sold to Joshua Abbott | 30/516 (South) |
For 150 pounds, "One Messuage or Tenement" bounded west by the County Road, north by the road leading to Andover, east by Deacon Sheldon and south by Joshua Abbott's own land, "with all the Buildings, Fences and Trees," plus 18 acres on the highway from William Patten's to Joseph Davis's, 38 1/2 acres by the Great Swamp, 37 acres in the second range east of the swamp and meadow near Prospect Hill. Ebenezer was Caleb Farley Sr.'s son. Acknowledged 1714, recorded 1730. Abbott had already bought William Patten's old 7 acres, bounded north by Ebenezer Farley, from Kendal Patten in 1710 (same book, page 236). Billerica town book 3, pages 237-239.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| February 11, 1762 | Deed | Joshua Abbot, cordwainer, and Dorcas Abbot | Oliver Abbot, retailer | 1757: Joshua Abbot to Oliver Abbot, 30 acres near the meeting house | 59/357 (South) |
For 270 pounds, about 30 acres "near the Meeting house," from a stone at the southwest corner easterly by David Abbot, northeasterly by marked trees and the grantor's land, north by Samuel Sheldon "to the highway called East Street," then westerly by East Street "to the highway called Long Street," then southward by Long Street "and the Commons" to the first bound, "with all the Buildings thereon." Signed April 26, 1757. East Street was the street granted to Golden More. Hazen's 1776 tax list places Oliver Abbot at "Paul Hill's place, east of Common." Billerica town book 8, pages 19-21.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| 1796 | Administration | Estate of Oliver Abbot of Billerica, trader | Simon Winship of Lexington, miller, administrator; heirs Abigail Abbot (widow), Joanna Winship, Dorcas Bowers, Abigail Abbot Jr. and Elizabeth Abbot | 1796: Oliver Abbot estate; the homestead to his daughter Dorcas Bowers | Probate #49 |
Oliver Abbot died intestate early in 1796, months after selling the corner half acre. His heirs asked on April 28, 1796 that Simon Winship of Lexington administer. The inventory of May 27, 1796 values "A Dwelling House" at $700 and "The homsted called 26 acres Bounded Westerly on the meeting house common and the County Road leading to Boston, Southerly on Mr David Abbots land and Easterly on Benj. Abbots & Josiah Bowerses Land And Northerly on the Road leading to Andover", divided by the fences into three lots, "The north lot taking in the Buildings" being nine acres. The hotel corner was the northwest corner of this homestead; the rest of the north lot passed to the heirs, among them Dorcas Bowers, later an abutter on the east and south.
Title from:
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| June 5, 1804 | Will | Estate of Jonathan Bowers Jr. of Billerica, gentleman | His widow Dorcas Bowers (use of half the real estate while a widow); his son Alexander Bowers (residue) | 1804: will of Jonathan Bowers Jr., husband of Dorcas | Probate #2293 |
Will dated July 8, 1799, made when he was "bound to sea": to "my beloved wife Dorcas Bowers, the improvement of the one half of all my Real Estate" while she remained his widow, and a third of the personal estate; to "my son Alexander Bowers & to his heirs & assigns forever all the residue". Executors Isaac Stearns Esq. and Alexander Bowers; witnesses Isaac Wilkins, Elizabeth Abbot, Nancy Simonds. Proved at Concord June 5, 1804. Jonathan Bowers, Billerica's first postmaster (appointed Oct. 7, 1797), had married Oliver Abbot's daughter Dorcas, who took her father's homestead in 1797; mother and son joined in selling it to George Bruce in 1810.
Title from:
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| April 7, 1810 | Deed | Alexander Bowers of Charlestown and Dorcas Bowers of Boston, widow | George Bruce of Boston, merchant | 1810: the Bowers homestead sold to George Bruce | 187/213 (South) |
For $2,000, "a certain messuage and parcel of land situate in Billerica ... near the meeting house," beginning at the southwest corner by the highway from Chelmsford to Boston at the wall by the grantors' other land, northerly on the highway 29 6/10 rods to land of the town, then by courses of 32 2/10, 25 8/10 and 26 rods back; also the third wall pew in the meeting house. Signed April 6, 1810. Dorcas was Oliver Abbot's daughter (m. 1783 Jonathan Bowers); Oliver's estate passed through her (see the 1798-1803 Abbot estate releases to J. Bowers, S 130/55, 133/30, 152/503). Billerica town book 10, pages 515-517.
Title from:
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| 1826 | Will | Estate of George Bruce of Billerica, yeoman | His sisters Hannah Upton and Abigail Bruce, niece Martha B. Wait, and brothers Stephen, William and Charles Bruce | 1826: will of George Bruce | Probate #3264 |
Will dated August 1824, presented Sept. 8, 1826 by the executors William and Charles Bruce. To his sisters Hannah Upton and Abigail Bruce and niece Martha B. Wait jointly for life, a parcel "with a dwelling house and all the other buildings standing thereon", its southwest corner by the highway "at the wall dividing it from a lot of land I purchased of Col. John Parker"; the residue to the sisters, niece and brothers equally.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| October 8, 1827 | Deed | William Bruce, Charles Bruce, Hannah Upton, Abigail Bruce and Martha B. Wait | Fitch Tufts of Boston, distiller | 1827: Bruce devisees to Fitch Tufts, 13 acres with the buildings | 277/218 (South) |
For $3,400, "a tract of land situate in Billerica aforesaid near the meeting house containing about thirteen acres ... with all the buildings thereon," bounded westerly by the highway from the meeting house to Boston, southerly by Col. John Parker, easterly by land formerly of Nahum Baldwin, northerly by the heirs of Capt. Josiah Bowers, Asa Richardson and John and Henry Baldwin; also the third wall pew. Signed June 6, 1827 by the heirs of George Bruce. Billerica town book 11, pages 508-509.
Title from:
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| June 14, 1830 | Mortgage | Fitch Tufts of Billerica, yeoman (Mary Tufts releasing dower) | Ephraim Tufts of West Cambridge, yeoman | 1830: Fitch Tufts mortgage of the place | 298/176 (South) |
Mortgage for $1,600 in two years of about thirteen acres near the meeting house "with all the buildings thereon", west by the highway from the meeting house to Boston, south by Col. John Parker, east by land formerly of Nahum Baldwin, north by the heirs of Capt. Josiah Bowers, Asa Richardson and John and Henry Baldwin, "Being the same estate which William Bruce and others conveyed to said Fitch ... Book 277 Page 218". Dated June 4, 1830; discharged March 23, 1832. Billerica town book 14, pages 312-313.
Title from:
|
|||||
| June 14, 1853 | Administration | Estate of Fitch Tufts of Billerica, intestate | His daughter Martha Tufts of Billerica, singlewoman, administratrix | 1853: Fitch Tufts estate, Martha Tufts administratrix | Probate #43363 |
Martha Tufts petitioned that Fitch Tufts, "who last dwelt in Billerica", had "within nine months last died intestate", leaving a widow and two children, Martha and Mary Tufts, who asked for her appointment. She was appointed administratrix at Cambridge on June 14, 1853.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| August 4, 1854 | Deed | Martha Tufts, single woman | Jefferson Cutter | 1854: Martha Tufts to Jefferson Cutter, 12 acres 20 rods | 688/168 (South) |
For $3,500, "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon standing situate near the Common," beginning at the northwest corner on Main Street, easterly by Henry Baldwin 18 rods 9 feet, northerly 7 rods, easterly by L. Haynes, Crosby and J. Baldwin 14 rods 9 feet, southerly 17 rods 10 feet, easterly by T. J. Jenkins and J. G. Kimball 79 rods, southerly by Baldwin 11 rods 10 feet to J. Jordan, westerly by Jordan 78 rods to W. G. Alley, northerly 10 rods 2 feet, westerly by Alley 34 rods to Main Street, northerly by Main Street 24 rods 8 feet: about 12 acres 20 rods, "part of the Homestead Estate of my late Father Fitch Tufts" (S 277/218). Signed Aug. 3, 1854; her mother Mary Tufts released her dower for $500 the same day (S 688/169). Billerica town book 20, pages 416-419.
|
|||||
| May 3, 1873 | Deed | Jefferson Cutter and Sarah E. Cutter | Paul Hill of Lowell | 1873: Jefferson Cutter to Paul Hill, who builds The Walnuts beside the later block site | 93/55 |
For $6,200, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon standing situate near the Common," the same 12 acres 20 rods with the same bounds, "being premises conveyed to me by Martha Tufts" (Cambridge Book 688 Page 168) and Mary Tufts (688/169). Signed April 26, 1873. Hill, railroad contractor and engineer of the Hoosac Tunnel, took down the old house and built "The Walnuts" here in 1873.
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| 1879 | Mortgage | Paul Hill of Billerica | Harry A. Brown of Lowell | 1879: Paul Hill mortgage of the twelve acres | 134/218 |
For $3,500, payable in five years with interest at six percent, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon standing situated near the Common in said Billerica," beginning at the northwesterly corner on the Main Street, easterly by land late of Henry Baldwin 18 rods 9 feet, by Casey, William S. Gleason and J. Baldwin, T. J. Jenkins and J. G. Kimball, Ordway and Mark Lund, "containing about twelve acres and twenty rods. Being the same premises conveyed to me by Jefferson Cutter by deed dated April 26th A.D. 1873" (Book 93 Page 55). Dated June 3, 1879. Discharged by Harry A. Brown Aug. 4, 1887, when Hill refinanced with the Central Savings Bank (Book 190 Page 89).
Title from:
|
|||||
| August 4, 1887 | Mortgage | Paul Hill of Billerica | The Central Savings Bank, Lowell | 1887: Paul Hill mortgage to the Central Savings Bank, assumed by Bull in 1892 | 190/89 |
For $5,000, payable in three years with interest at five percent, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon, situated near the Common in said Billerica," the same bounds from the Main Street by Henry Baldwin, Casey, Wm. S. Gleason and J. Baldwin, Jenkins and Kimball, Ordway and Mark Lund, "containing twelve acres and twenty rods about. Being the same premises conveyed to me by Jefferson Cutter by his deed dated April 26, 1873" (Book 93 Page 55). The buildings to be insured for $5,000 for the bank. Recorded right after Harry A. Brown's discharge of the 1879 mortgage. Sidney A. Bull bought the place in 1892 subject to this mortgage; released in Book 265 Page 122.
Title from:
Related:
|
|||||
| 1889 | Mortgage | Paul Hill of Billerica | William H. Anderson of Lowell | 1889: Paul Hill second mortgage, discharged at the 1892 sale | 210/278 |
For $3,000, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated near the common in said Billerica," beginning at the northwesterly corner on the Main Street and running easterly by land late of Henry Baldwin, the same twelve acres Paul Hill bought of Jefferson Cutter in 1873 (Book 93 Page 55), a second mortgage behind the Central Savings Bank. Recorded in October 1889. Discharged in the margin by reference to Book 237 Page 590, the 1892 sale to Sidney A. Bull.
Title from:
|
|||||
| October 20, 1892 | Deed | Paul Hill and Belinda P. Hill | Sidney A. Bull of Carlisle | 1892: Paul Hill to Sidney A. Bull, who builds the Central Block on the farm in 1894 | 237/590 |
For $9,250, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon situated near the common," same bounds, about 12 acres 20 rods, "see deed Cutter to me dated April 26, 1873" (Book 93 Page 55), subject to a $5,000 mortgage to the Central Savings Bank. Signed Oct. 20, 1892. The Bull family kept it for over 90 years ("Sidney Bull House").
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| April 5, 1968 | Easement | Leila S. Stone of Billerica | Town of Billerica | 1967: Leila S. Stone, Bull's daughter, grants the town a water main easement across the farm | 1838/418 |
"A permanent easement for the purpose of entering thereon and constructing, maintaining and repairing water mains," a twenty-foot strip "in and through that portion of the premises owned by the grantor and located on Boston Road," beginning on the line between the property of Robert and Edna Dunstan and Leila S. Stone (Parcel 13), running 284.19 feet southerly, 5,664 square feet, with temporary 15-foot work strips on each side, as on the "Plan of Easement ... for Water Main Construction and Maintenance as ordered by the Board of Selectmen, September, 1965," Fleming and Bienvenu (No. 6294-E, Plan Book 106 Plan 132). The town to restore the land. Signed 1967, recorded Apr. 5, 1968. The 20-foot water easement is drawn across Lot 1 on the 1987 Compilation Plan. Leila S. Stone, daughter of Sidney A. Bull, held the place after his death in 1944.
Title from:
|
|||||
| October 2, 1985 | Quitclaim | Robert W. Bull of New York, New York | Centerpoint Developers, Inc. | 1985: Robert W. Bull, Sidney Bull's grandson, sells the farm and block to Centerpoint Developers | 3199/15 |
For $500,000, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon, situated near the common," the same bounds from Main Street by Henry Baldwin, Casey, Gleason and Baldwin, Jenkins and Kimball, Ordway and Mark Lunds, 12 acres, "being the same premises conveyed to the grantor by the estate of Leila P. Stone" (Middlesex Probate). Signed Oct. 1, 1985; confirmatory deed 1987 (Book 4058 Page 207). Robert Bull was the owner when the house was recorded in 1973. An inn proposal by Someplaces Different failed at the Appeals Board in 1985.
Title from:
|
|||||
| May 18, 1987 | Confirmatory Deed | Robert W. Bull of New York, New York | Centerpoint Developers, Inc., of 446 Boston Road, Billerica | 1987: confirmatory deed of the 1985 sale | 4058/207 |
For one dollar, quitclaim of "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon, situated near the common in said Billerica," the twelve acres with the bounds of 1854, restoring the call "thence Northerly by said Lunds land, ten rods and two feet; thence Westerly by said Lunds land, thirty-one rods to Main Street." "Being the same premises conveyed to the Grantor by the estate of Leita P. Stone Middlesex Probate Court Docket #4445876. The purpose of this Confirmatory Deed is to correct a scriviner's error in the original description of the deed recorded in Book 3199, Page 15." Signed in New York May 4, 1987; recorded May 18, 1987, just before Centerpoint's sale to Frank P. Crivello (Book 4058 Page 210).
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| May 18, 1987 | Quitclaim | Centerpoint Developers, Inc. | Frank P. Crivello of Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 1987: Centerpoint sells Lot 1 for a shopping plaza; the block is demolished that year | 4058/210 |
Lot 1, 10.3 acres, on "Compilation Plan," March 18, 1987, Boston Road, Howe Surveying Associates (Plan Book 159), "a portion of the premises conveyed to the Grantor by Robert W. Bull" (Book 3199 Page 15), with land from Carl W. Berger et al. (Book 3522 Page 145). Signed May 15, 1987. That year The Walnuts was moved about a mile north to its present site behind Collins Bowladrome, and the Central Block was demolished; Crivello built the "Billerica Commons" plaza (Historical Commission reports 1987-88).
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted; Probate # is a Middlesex probate case, Ctf a Land Court certificate of title.