Structure · Built 1895 · Demolished 1951
Talbot Mills Library and Post Office
Talbot Mills Library and Post Office
| Also Known As | North Billerica Post Office |
| Address | Post Office Square |
| Built | 1895 |
| Demolished | 1951 |
The Talbot Mills Library and Post Office stood at the south corner of Elm Street (now Old Elm Street) and Talbot Avenue in North Billerica, the spot long called Post Office Square. The land was part of the Canal Mills property that Thomas Richardson sold to the proprietors of the Middlesex Canal in 1794. In 1831 the proprietors sold Daniel Wilson their lots 4 to 12 on the south side of the road, "about two and three quarters acres", running from John Mixer's lot (later the Isaiah Bussey House) toward the house Wilson built in 1848. After Wilson's death in 1861 his son-in-law and administrator Gardner Parker bought the farm, and in 1876 he sold Charles P. Talbot and Thomas Talbot a half-acre strip "containing one half acre" at its northeast end, next to land the Talbots already owned. The Talbots bought the rest of the Wilson land in 1883, and in October 1884 the family conveyed it, with the village, to the new corporation, The Talbot Mills.
Talbot Avenue was laid out through the company land in 1894, and about 1895 the company built a library and post office on the corner lot. The post office served the North Village, and the Talbot Library upstairs was the mill village's library; in 1902 H. S. Clark placed in it a collection of art books. When J. C. and W. T. Monahan surveyed the village for the company's lot sales in 1936, Plan A showed the building, with its two wings, on Lot 52, 18,708 square feet with 83.83 feet on Elm Street and 168.56 feet on Talbot Avenue.
On November 2, 1939 The Talbot Mills sold Lot 52 "with the buildings thereon", together with several other lots in the village, to Frank A. Kelley of Billerica. The library had closed by 1943, when the Bennett Public Library directors pointed to "the discontinuance of the Talbot Library at North Billerica"; its books and equipment were given to the Bennett Public Library, and some went to Father Mathew Hall. A town committee, reporting in the 1945 town report, looked at "the second story of the Post Office building", then "the property of Mr. Frank A. Kelley", for a branch library. Kelley would rent it for $15 a month but "was not willing to spend money on improvements", and repairs were estimated at $1,000. Kelley died during the talks and the plan was dropped.
In July 1947 Kelley's heirs sold the lot "with the buildings thereon" to Lawrence E. Desmond and his wife Katherine, and in December, through a straw deed, Desmond took Solomon G. Hajjar in as an equal owner. The building was torn down about 1951, and a new post office was built nearby on Talbot Avenue. When Desmond and Hajjar ended their partnership in December 1962, the words "with the buildings thereon" were struck out of the deeds: the corner was an empty lot, owned by Solomon and Elizabeth M. Hajjar, whose house stood next door on Talbot Avenue. Elizabeth Hajjar shared it with her children in 1971. The family sold the vacant lot in 1985 to a builder's realty trust, which built the split-level house now at 32 Old Elm Street and sold it that year to private owners.
Plans for a post office and hall for the Talbot Mills, a two-story wooden building with a basement designed by Stickney and Austin, were filed with the building inspection department of the state District Police on October 11, 1898.
References
- Billerica assessor, parcel 9-114-0, 32 Old Elm St: Plan 60-25 Lot 52, 0.429 acre, house built about 1985
- Town report 1943, Bennett Public Library directors: "the discontinuance of the Talbot Library at North Billerica"
- Town report 1945, branch library sub-committee: the second story of the Post Office building, "the property of Mr. Frank A. Kelley"; Kelley died during the negotiations
- Mass. District Police plan record, Oct. 11, 1898, No. 2802: Post Office Building, post office and hall; architect Stickney and Austin
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| April 21, 1794 | Deed | Thomas Richardson of Billerica, gentleman (Judith Richardson releasing dower) | Ebenezer Hall of Medford and Samuel Jaques of Wilmington, a committee for the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal | the Canal Mills land, 1794 | 115/259 (South) |
For 1350 pounds, "about forty acres of Land" bounded easterly by Concord River, westerly by the highway and northerly and southerly by the road; the reversion of half the dower of the widow Hannah Carlton, conveyed to him by Solomon, Moses and Nathan Carlton; five sixths of a small piece at the northeast end of the mill dam, bounded easterly "by Timothy Sprague's Ditch that conveys Water to the Fulling mill"; "together with all the Buildings ... including the Mills Mill priviledges ... commonly known by the name of Richardson's Mills being the same which was formerly granted by the Town of Billerica to Christopher Osgood together with the Mill Dam and Stream", on the conditions of the town's vote of October 4, 1708, a passage for fish, and his 1791 agreement with Timothy Sprague. Dated March 25, 1794; recorded April 21, 1794. Billerica town book 9, pages 81-82. The Canal Mills land from which the proprietors sold their small house lots.
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| April 21, 1832 | Deed | Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal (Peter O. Thacher, president) | Daniel Wilson of Billerica | Daniel Wilson buys canal lots 4-12, south side of the road (Lot 52 area) | 313/21 (South) |
The Canal Proprietors sell Wilson about two and three quarter acres "on the southerly side of the road" from Oliver Farmer's house to the mills owned by the Canal, bounded by land sold to John Mixer and land of the late Nathan Mears, being lots 4 to 12 on Samuel Whiting's plan of the Canal's mill land of May 27, 1816. This is the land on the south side of Elm Street at the corner of the later Colson Street where Wilson built his house in 1848 (MACRIS cites it as the purchase of the house lot). Signed October 24, 1831; recorded April 21, 1832. Billerica town book 16, pages 91-92.
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| 1861 | Administration | Estate of Daniel Wilson of Billerica, who died November 29, 1861 intestate | Gardner Parker of Billerica, administrator; widow Mary Wilson and eight children | Daniel Wilson estate | Probate #44864 |
Gardner Parker, husband of Wilson's daughter Adeline, petitioned December 11, 1861 that Daniel Wilson had died November 29, 1861 intestate, leaving his widow Mary and children Mary J. Wilkins, Adeline M. Parker, Horace N. Wilson, Daniel A. Wilson (at Rattlesnake Bar, California), Israel N. Wilson (a captain then serving in Virginia), Frances A. Faulkner and Charles H. Wilson; he was appointed administrator at Cambridge December 24, 1861. The license of April 7, 1863 led to the sale of Wilson's third of the Mears Tavern stand.
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| April 6, 1864 | Administrator's Deed | Gardner Parker of Billerica, administrator of the estate of Daniel Wilson | James Faulkner of Billerica | administrator sells the Wilson farm | 37/357 |
Under a license of the Probate Court at Lowell of April 7, 1863, after three weeks' notice in the Lowell Daily Courier, the administrator sold at public auction on December 7, 1863, to James Faulkner, the highest bidder, for $4,000, all Wilson's right at his death in "a certain piece or parcel of land situate in said Billerica, containing about twenty-eight acres being the homestead farm of the late Daniel Wilson", bounded west by the road from Billerica to North Billerica, north by that road and lands of Easty, I. N. Wilson, Foster, Lane and C. P. Talbot & Co., east by Easty, Foster, Lane and the Concord River, and south by the Concord River and the Common. Dated December 7, 1863; acknowledged April 5, 1864; recorded April 6, 1864.
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| April 6, 1864 | Quitclaim | James Faulkner of Billerica (Fanny A. Faulkner releasing dower and homestead) | Gardner Parker of Billerica | Gardner Parker owner of the Wilson farm | 37/358 |
For $4,000, the same twenty-eight acres "being the homestead farm of the late Daniel Wilson of said Billerica deceased", same bounds, "subject to a right of way over a portion of said premises, and to the dower of Mary Wilson, widow". Faulkner (husband of Wilson's daughter Frances) passed the farm to the administrator Parker (husband of his daughter Adeline) the day after the sale deed was acknowledged. Dated April 5, 1864; recorded April 6, 1864.
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| March 30, 1876 | Deed | Gardner Parker of Billerica (Adeline M. Parker releasing dower and homestead) | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica | half-acre strip at the northeast end of the Wilson land to the Talbots | 116/432 |
For $300, "a certain tract of land situate in North Billerica containing one half acre", beginning at a corner in the road leading from North Billerica to Lowell at land of the Talbots, about 18 rods south by their land to "my own land", then north by Parker's land to the road and 6 1/3 rods by the road, "as per plan of Samuel Sage A.D. 1876"; free of incumbrances "except a mortgage held by the grantees". A vacant strip of the Wilson farm east of the house, which Parker kept. Dated March 30, 1876.
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| July 28, 1882 | Warranty Deed | Gardner Parker of Billerica (Adeline M. Parker releasing dower and homestead) | J. M. G. Parker of Lowell | Wilson homestead land to J. M. G. Parker | 154/208 |
For $6,600, "a certain parcel of land situate in North Billerica, containing about fourteen acres more or less, with all the buildings thereon, being a part of the Homestead farm of the late Daniel Wilson of said Billerica, deceased", bounded west by "the old road from Billerica to North Billerica", north by that road, and east and south by lands of C. P. Talbot & Co., the School House lot and Wilson Street, as on a plan by Osgood & Snell. The rest of the Wilson farm, with the 1848 house. Dated and acknowledged July 8, 1882, before Dudley Foster; recorded July 28, 1882.
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| August 10, 1883 | Quitclaim | John M. G. Parker of Lowell (D. Maria Parker releasing dower and homestead) | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica | the remaining Wilson land to the Talbots | 162/3 |
For $7,000, "a certain parcel of land situate in North Billerica containing about fourteen acres more or less with all the buildings thereon, being a part of the Homestead farm of the late Daniel Wilson of said Billerica deceased", bounded west by the old road from Billerica to North Billerica, north by that road, and east and south by lands of C. P. Talbot & Co., the School House lot and Wilson Street, per the Osgood & Snell plan; "Said premises were conveyed to me by Gardner Parker the eighth day of July A.D. 1882 by deed recorded ... Book 154 Page 208". In October 1884 the Talbots conveyed their North Billerica property to the new Talbot Mills corporation (Book 169 Pages 468 and 472). Dated and acknowledged August 1, 1883; recorded August 10, 1883.
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| October 16, 1884 | Guardian's Deed | Harriet Talbot et al., by their guardian | The Talbot Mills, Billerica | to The Talbot Mills, "second parcel" | 169/468 |
Known from the grantee index 1881-1900 (Talbot Mills-Billerica, index page 82): received October 16, 1884, "N Billerica. Several parcels, water rts, mill privileges &c, see record", recorded with the deed of Thomas Talbot et al. (Book 169 Page 472). Book 169 images are unavailable at the registry; not read.
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| October 16, 1884 | Deed | Thomas Talbot et al. | The Talbot Mills, Billerica | to The Talbot Mills, "second parcel" | 169/472 |
Known from the grantee index 1881-1900 (Talbot Mills-Billerica, index page 82): received October 16, 1884, "N Billerica. Several parcels, water rts, mill privileges &c, see record." Later Talbot Mills deeds cite it with Book 169 Page 468 as the deeds "from the Talbot heirs" to the new corporation (one recites a deed of Thomas Talbot et als. dated Oct. 15, 1884). The registry shows "Image is Unavailable" for Book 169, so the deed itself was not read; that it covered the land of the future Oval, part of the C. P. Talbot and Company property west of Wilson Street on the 1881 plan, is inferred.
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| November 2, 1939 | Quitclaim Deed | The Talbot Mills (Thomas T. Clark, treasurer) | Frank A. Kelley of Billerica | Talbot Mills sells Lot 52 "with the buildings thereon" to Frank A. Kelley | 935/557 |
Signed November 2, 1939. Among several leftover parcels of the mill village, Talbot Mills quitclaims Lot 18 (11,435 sq ft, the point where Talbot Avenue and Wilson Street meet) and Lot 19 (23,523 sq ft: northwest by Talbot Avenue 182.33 feet, southeast by Wilson Street 154.84 feet, southwest by Lot 18 105.79 feet) on Plan A, Plan Book 60 Plan 25 (Monahan, 1934-36). Lot 19, the old Talbot School lot, empty after the 1935 fire, is recited as part of the land the town conveyed to Talbot Mills on April 6, 1886 (Book 182 Page 366) and part of the 1884 deeds to Talbot Mills from the Talbot heirs (Book 169 Pages 468 and 472); the 1902 deed is not mentioned. The Elm Street to Wilson Street right of way is kept open for the abutters and the common sewer reserved.
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| August 13, 1947 | Quitclaim | Margaret Nicholson, Joseph Kelley, John Kelley, Edward J. Kelley, Honor Kelley, Louise M. Kelliher and Ruth Gertrude McCaffrey, heirs of Frank A. Kelley, late of Billerica | Lawrence E. Desmond and Katherine L. Desmond of Billerica, husband and wife | 1947 Kelley heirs sell the library and post office building | 1074/30 |
For consideration paid ($3.30 in revenue stamps), "the heirs of Frank A. Kelley, late of Billerica" quitclaim "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the southeasterly side of Elm Street and the southwesterly side of Talbot Avenue": northwesterly by Elm Street 83.83 feet, northeasterly by Talbot Avenue 168.56 feet, southeasterly by Lot 51 142.43 feet and southwesterly by Lot 53 147.99 feet, 18,708 square feet, Lot 52 on Plan A of the Talbot Mills (Plan Book 60, Plan 25), "a part of the second parcel" of the 1884 deeds to the Talbot Mills (Book 169, Pages 468 and 472). Dated July 31, 1947. The building was the old Talbot Mills library and post office, which Kelley had owned since 1939.
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| December 23, 1947 | Quitclaim | Lawrence E. Desmond and Katherine L. Desmond of Billerica | Esther R. Baxter of Lowell | 1947 straw deed | 1083/191 |
For less than $100, Lot 52 on Plan A (Plan Book 60, Plan 25) at Elm Street and Talbot Avenue, same bounds, the sewer reserved, "Being the same premises to us conveyed by Margaret Nicholson, et als by deed dated July 31, 1947 ... Book 1074, Page 30". Dated December 17, 1947, acknowledged before Francis J. Baxter, notary; recorded December 23, 1947 at 1:30 PM. A straw conveyance: Baxter deeded the lot back the same day to Desmond and a partner.
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| December 23, 1947 | Quitclaim | Esther R. Baxter of Lowell, unmarried | Lawrence E. Desmond and Solomon G. Hajjar of Billerica, tenants in common | 1947 Desmond and Hajjar, owners when the building was torn down | 1083/192 |
For less than $100, "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the southeasterly side of Elm Street and the southwesterly side of Talbot Avenue", Lot 52 on Plan A, 18,708 square feet, same bounds, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of even date from Lawrence E. Desmond and Katherine L. Desmond". Dated December 17, 1947; recorded December 23, 1947 at 1:31 PM. Desmond took Solomon G. Hajjar in as a half owner of the post office building.
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| January 8, 1963 | Quitclaim | Lawrence E. Desmond, unmarried, and Solomon G. Hajjar of Billerica (Elizabeth M. Hajjar releasing dower) | Doris Stevens of Lowell | 1962 vacant lot: "with the buildings thereon" struck out | 1587/2 |
For consideration paid, "the land" on the southeasterly side of Elm Street and the southwesterly side of Talbot Avenue, Lot 52 on Plan A (Plan Book 60, Plan 25), same bounds, 18,708 square feet; the printed words "with the buildings thereon" are struck out, as the old post office building had been torn down. "Intending hereby to convey ... all and the same premises conveyed to us by Esther R. Baxter by deed dated December 17, 1947", Book 1083, Page 192, subject to the rights in the Talbot Mills deed to Frank A. Kelley of November 2, 1939 (Book 935, Page 557). Dated December 21, 1962; recorded January 8, 1963. A straw deed ending the 1947 partnership.
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| January 8, 1963 | Quitclaim | Doris Stevens of Lowell, unmarried | Solomon G. Hajjar and Elizabeth M. Hajjar of Billerica, husband and wife, tenants by the entirety | 1962 Hajjars sole owners of the vacant lot | 1587/3 |
For consideration paid, "the land" (the words "with the buildings thereon" struck out) on the southeasterly side of Elm Street and the southwesterly side of Talbot Avenue, Lot 52 on Plan A of the Talbot Mills, Plan Book 60, Plan 25, same bounds, 18,708 square feet. Dated December 21, 1962; recorded January 8, 1963 at 2:43 PM. The Hajjars, who lived on the adjoining part of Lot 51 on Talbot Avenue, now held the whole corner lot.
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| January 13, 1972 | Quitclaim | Elizabeth M. Hajjar of North Billerica, unmarried | Herself (one half) and her five children (one tenth each), joint tenants | later owners of the lot | 1994/701 |
For consideration ($25 stamps), three parcels: land on Mt. Pleasant Street (81 by 145 feet, by the North Billerica Baptist Society); "the land" at Elm Street and Talbot Avenue, Lot 52 on Plan A, 18,708 square feet, "Being the same premises to me conveyed by deed of Doris Stevens dated December 21, 1962 ... Book 1587, Page 3"; and the northerly part of Lot 51 on Talbot Avenue "with the buildings thereon", 17,146 square feet. Dated December 14, 1971. Later transfers (private owners, not named): a family quitclaim in 1977 (Book 2254, Page 312); sale of Lot 52, still vacant "land", in May 1985 for $32,000 to a realty trust (Book 3061, Page 123), which built the present split-level house and sold it "with the buildings thereon" in August 1985 for $134,250 (Book 3143, Page 16); resold in 1987 for $152,000 (Book 4075, Page 289), with later sales in 1987, 1990, 1998, 2008 and 2014 (assessor parcel 9-114-0, 32 Old Elm Street).
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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.