T.F. Lyons Post Office
T.F. Lyons Post Office
| Also Known As | Jasper F. Bruce Building |
| Address | 430 Boston Rd |
| Built | 1900 |
| Other Lot Structures |
James Abbott House
(Built 1796)
Old BATV Building (Built 1950) |
Thomas Francis Lyons was the postmaster of Billerica Center. He first rented out space from Jasper F. Bruce in the building next door. Lyons built this wooden structure by 1900, still on Bruce's land. Lyons eventually built a much larger building a little further north and vacated this building. This building was later lengthened and rebuilt with brick.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 29, 1819 | Deed | George Bruce of Billerica, merchant | John Baldwin and Henry Baldwin, both of Billerica, gentlemen | 1818: the lot on which the north store later stood | 225/500 (South) |
Billerica town book 12, pages 83-84. Dated March 11, 1818. For $1,150, "a certain tract of land situate in Billerica aforesaid containing three fourths of an acre be it more or less with all the buildings thereon", beginning at the northwest corner and running by the great road "six rods and twenty links" (112.2 feet, the same frontage as the 1925 plan), then easterly by the grantor's land 18 rods 10 links to a stone wall, then northerly "as the wall now stands" six rods 20 links "to land owned or lately owned by widow Lucy H. Foster" (the tavern lot at the corner of Sheldon's Lane), then westerly 17 rods 16 links to the first corner. No title recital; the lot was cut from the Bowers land Bruce bought in 1810. The 1925 trustee's deed recites this deed as the root of the title.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| November 29, 1836 | Quitclaim | John Baldwin of Billerica, Esquire (Clarissa Baldwin releasing dower) | Henry Baldwin of Billerica, gentleman | 1836: the lot passes to Henry Baldwin alone | 357/403 (South) |
Billerica town book 15, pages 303-304. Dated Nov. 4, 1836. For $4,000, John Baldwin releases "one undivided half of a certain lot of land situate in said Billerica on the easterly side of the common containing three fourths of an acre more or less with all the buildings thereon": by the great road six rods twenty links, easterly "by land of Fitch Tufts" 18 rods 10 links to a stone wall, northerly six rods 20 links "to land of Lyman Haynes" (the tavern stand), westerly by Haynes 17 rods 16 links; also half of the 39-acre Nahum Baldwin Pasture. The preceding instrument (town book 15, pages 301-302) is Henry's reciprocal release to John of other lands the brothers held together. From 1836 Henry Baldwin owned the lot alone.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| June 30, 1846 | Will | Estate of Henry Baldwin of Billerica, trader | His widow Anne Baldwin for life, then his sons Henry A., Samuel W. and George F. Baldwin | 1846: the house and store pass under Henry Baldwin's will | Probate #26760 |
Will dated May 18, 1846, proved June 30, 1846: "I give bequeath & devise to my wife Anne Baldwin my house, store, out buildings & land under & adjoining them, also all my farm, being about forty acres ... during her natural life, & at her decease, to my three children, to be equally divided between them." Executors Augustus Whiting of Charlestown and Henry A. Baldwin, who might sell "the Old Town house (so called)" and the Lowell lots. The inventory (appraisers Dudley Foster, Lyman Haynes, Gardner Parker) lists "The Homestead of said deceased situate in said Billerica" at $3,360 and the "Town house lot and building" at $550. George F., a minor, chose his mother as guardian (probate 26757).
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| May 20, 1881 | Mortgage | Jasper F. Bruce of Billerica, trader (Cordelia Bruce releasing dower and homestead) | Moses P. Greenwood of Billerica | 1881: the store connected to the dwelling house | 145/358 |
Dated April 21, 1881. For $1,500 in three years at 5 1/2 percent, "a certain parcel of land situated in the centre of said Billerica with a dwelling-house & store connected and a barn upon the same": from the southwest corner at land of Paul Hill on the Boston road, east and north by Hill to Mrs. Mary Casey, west by Casey "and land now or formerly of Albert R. Richardson" (the hotel lot) to the road, and by the road to the first bound, "containing about one acre more or less, being the same premises bequeathed to me by the late Samuel W. Baldwin, in his last will, Probated at Cambridge Middlesex County, March 15th 1881." Discharged in 1896 (Book 278 Page 478).
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| July 20, 1896 | Lease | Jasper F. Bruce of Billerica | Fred H. Parker of Billerica | 1896: the store on the north side of the Bruce house | 277/104 |
Dated June 1, 1896. Bruce leases "the store in the northerly side of my dwelling house on Main Street in said Billerica and also the cellar under the whole of said dwelling house" (except the part under the kitchen), with the barn and shed connected with the house and the right to draw water from the well, for five years (renewable for five more) at $15 a month, "on the condition that no intoxicating liquors are to be sold on the premises".
Related:
|
|||||
| March 20, 1915 | Lease | Jasper F. Bruce of Billerica | Harry G. Watts of Billerica | 1914: the building "now occupied by T. F. Lyons as a Post Office" | 535/329 |
Dated May 1, 1914, for ten years from Jan. 1, 1912 at $264 a year: "that portion of the premises now occupied as a grocery and provision store in the building owned by the said Bruce", with the barn, storehouses and sheds and the land behind, "on the easterly side of the Common in Billerica (Centre)", Bruce keeping a clothes yard "at the rear of his present home". Watts had options on "the building between the store house and street ... now occupied by J. F. Verner as a barber shop" and "the building between the said store house and street now occupied by T. F. Lyons as a Post Office" when those tenancies ended. The 1925 deed is subject to this lease.
Related:
|
|||||
| December 11, 1925 | Trustee's Deed | Harry W. Conant of Boston, trustee under a Middlesex Probate decree of Nov. 24, 1925 to convey the real estate of Jasper F. Bruce, late of West Windham, N.H., deceased | A. Warren Stearns of Billerica | 1925: the north store and dwelling, part of the Bruce lot sold to Stearns | 731/507 |
Dated Dec. 1, 1925. For $8,500, "A certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated on the East side of the Common in Billerica Center": from a stone bound on Boston Road at land of Knox, south along the 1917 County Commissioners' street line 112.20 feet, east by S. A. Bull "by an iron pipe fence and stone wall" 310.25 feet, north by Bull 112.20 feet, west by Nancy A. Evans heirs and Knox 291.61 feet, 34,325 square feet, as shown on the plan "belonging to Cordelia Bruce" surveyed Oct. 16, 1925 by John Thomas Brown (Plan Book 47 Plan 100, recorded herewith), "being the same premises described in deed of George Bruce to John and Henry Baldwin, dated March 11, 1818" (Middlesex South Book 225 Page 500). Subject to "any outstanding lease given by Jasper F. Bruce to Harry G. Watts".
Title from:
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| May 4, 1932 | Quitclaim | A. Warren Stearns of Billerica (Frances M. Stearns releasing dower and homestead) | Billerica Trust Company | 1932: the north building passes to the Billerica Trust Company with the lot | 813/46 |
Dated March 29, 1932. "For consideration paid", the land "with the buildings thereon, situated on the east side of the Common in Billerica Center", the same 34,325 square feet (Knox, S. A. Bull, Nancy A. Evans heirs; Plan Book 47 Plan 100), "being the same premises conveyed to me by the Trustee of Jasper F. Bruce ... by deed dated December 1, 1925", subject to a mortgage to the B. F. Butler Co-operative Bank (Book 776 Page 144). The bank, which had opened in the building in 1929, now held title.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| October 17, 1945 | Quitclaim | Billerica Trust Company, "formerly having a place of business in Billerica", by Everett R. Brigham, treasurer | A. Warren Stearns and Frances J. (M.) Stearns, husband and wife, of Billerica | 1945: the north building returns to the Stearnses with the lot | 1031/159 |
Dated Sept. 28, 1945. "Without any money consideration", the land "with the buildings thereon, situated on the east side of the Common in Billerica Center", the same 34,325 square feet (Plan Book 47 Plan 100), being the premises Stearns conveyed to the bank in 1932. The directors' vote of Oct. 24, 1944 describes "the land and buildings on Boston Road ... occupied by the Billerica Trust Company and the Billerica Motor Sales Company, Inc." Later transfers (not separate rows): Dr. Stearns died Sept. 24, 1959; his widow Frances M. Stearns sold to a family member in 1972 (Book 2032 Page 728, $70,000), who sold "430 and 432 Boston Road" to D & D Realty Trust in 1993 (Book 6604 Page 39, $250,000); D & D Realty Trust sold to J & T Realty Trust in 1997 (Book 8550 Page 215, $450,000), the owner in 2024.
Title from:
|
|||||
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.