Structure · Built 1901 · Demolished 1953
Riverhurst Trolley Station
Riverhurst Trolley Station
| Address | Concord Road |
| Built | 1901 |
| Demolished | 1953 |
| Other Lot Structures |
Solomon Hill House (1742 -
1976)
Samuel Cole Blacksmith Shop (1835 - 1899) |
The Riverhurst Trolley Station was the Lexington & Boston Street Railway's building on Concord Road at Riverhurst, in South Billerica, where the electric cars from Bedford passed the summer colony on the Concord River. It stood on the southeast side of the old road, opposite Meadow Lane and the Solomon Hill House, on a lot of 5,000 square feet that the company bought in 1901 and labeled on its plan "Land for Storage Battery Station."
The land was part of the twenty acres east of the road that Capt. Ralph Hill left to his son William Hill under his will of 1784. William Hill sold them to Sears Cook in 1815; after Cook's death his son Francis sold them in 1819 to Jonathan Hill, who in 1835 sold "twenty acres more or less" to Samuel Cole, blacksmith. Cole built his house and his Samuel Cole Blacksmith Shop there. His widow Mary sold the place in 1886 to Isaac L. Watts, and after a sale to Herbert F. Colby that ended with the farm going back to Watts, it passed in 1897 to Sarah L. Williams and then to Hannah Morrill, wife of John W. Morrill.
The Lexington & Boston Street Railway Company, incorporated in 1899, built its Billerica line along the Bedford road in 1900. In December 1899 it bought small lots on the road from D. J. Folsom, Joseph N. Pardee, Joseph Jaquith and the Morrills; the Morrill deed of Nov. 30, 1899 gave it a triangle of 9,910 square feet where the road made a sharp bend at the north end of the old Cole land, so the track could cut the corner. On June 26, 1901 the Morrills sold the company a second lot, 50 feet on "Bedford street" and 100 feet deep, "northeasterly of the house and barn of said Morrill," on condition that the railway build "a substantial four strand wire fence." Leonard Metcalf's plan of June 25, 1901 shows the lot still bare, with "Miss Jennie Nelson" across the road, so the building dates from 1901 or a little later rather than from the opening of the line.
When Hannah Morrill sold the farm to Edward M. and Fanny F. Mace in 1913, she excepted the two railway lots. The county's 1915 layout of Concord Road, made for the relocation that the County Commissioners ordered in December 1916, shows the road straightened past Riverhurst, the track cutting across the old bend, and a small rectangle on the road labeled "Boston & Lexington St. R.R." in front of the Mace barn. The Lexington & Boston was merged into the Middlesex & Boston Street Railway in 1912, and the Middlesex & Boston gave up its electric cars on the Billerica line about 1924.
On March 17, 1927 the Middlesex & Boston Street Railway, by its president Pitt F. Drew, sold the station lot to William H. Greene of Arlington, and the trustee of the company's 1912 bond mortgage released it. Greene sold it in 1930 to Helen Mikulskis of Boston, whose family had bought the rest of the old Cole farm from the Maces' guardian in 1928. When the Mikulskises sold the lot in 1946 to a private owner, the deed conveyed it "with the buildings thereon" and the furnaces and fixtures in them, so the old railway building was still standing and in use more than twenty years after the trolleys stopped. In 1953 the Commonwealth took the lot, as Parcel 45 of the Route 3 layout, along with most of the Mace and Mikulsky land; the site, the 1899 triangle and the Cole house lot are now within the highway.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1789 | Will | Capt. Ralph Hill of Billerica, gentleman | His sons William Hill and Solomon Hill; his widow Abigail; daughters Hannah Miller, Bathsheba French, Naomi Hill and Sarah Hill | Capt. Ralph Hill leaves his land east of the Bedford road to his son William | Probate #11505 |
Will dated Nov. 12, 1784, witnessed by Isaac Stearns, Samuel Kidder and Peter Hill: to his wife Abigail for life "the improvement of the Easterly end of my now dwelling House to the middle of the Chimney," with the cellar, well and door yard; to "my son William Hill ... the Southerly part of my homestead containing about sixty acres," beginning "at a Bunch of Maples near the River a little above the Island in the river," east by a ditch across the plow land to a white oak and "to a stonewall at the south end of a Hopyard and running by the wall to the Highway leading to Concord," being "the Land that I had of my Hond Father by a Deed dated January 3d 1732/3," with his lands on the southeast side of the highway; to "my son Solomon Hill ... all the rest of my Lands in Billerica including the small Island in the River with all the Buildings thereon standing"; money legacies to his daughters, with Naomi and Sarah to have "liberty of convenient room in either of my Dwelling Houses" while unmarried, and William to have a right of way across Solomon's land. William and Solomon executors. The heirs certified their assent to the will in February 1789. Middlesex probate case 11505.
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| June 28, 1815 | Warranty Deed | William Hill of Billerica, yeoman | Sears Cook of Billerica, gentleman | William Hill sells the 20 acres to Sears Cook | 211/190 (South) |
For $300, "a certain tract of land containing twenty acres more or less," beginning by "the road leading from Billerica Meeting house to Concord at land of Jonas Bacon," south by the road to "land set off as dower to Peter Hills wife," east by that land to land of Joseph Jaquith, north by Jaquith to Bacon and west by Bacon to the road. Dated May 29, 1815, witnessed by Francis Cook and Joseph Locke. No buildings and no title recital: William Hill held the land under the 1789 will of his father Capt. Ralph Hill, which gave him the family lands "on the southeast side of the highway." Billerica town book 11, page 350.
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| 1816 | Will | Estate of Sears Cook of Billerica, gentleman | His widow Abigail and son Francis Cook, executor and residuary devisee | Sears Cook dies 1816; residue to his son Francis Cook | Probate #5053 |
Will dated Oct. 26, 1811 (witnesses Joseph Parker, Francis Kidder and Joseph Locke): to his wife Abigail "the improvement of all my house and one half of all my other real estate" for life; $500 each to his daughters Abigail Crosby, Susannah Walker and Sarah Gleason; the residue to his son Francis Cook, sole executor. Sears Cook died in the summer of 1816; the will was proved at Chelmsford Oct. 1, 1816. The file has no inventory, and neither the will nor the indexes show the house lot he bought in 1815 still in his estate: William Richardson, a witness to the 1815 deed, held it and sold it with full warranty in June 1816, so Cook's title passed to him by a conveyance that was never recorded.
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| August 3, 1830 | Quitclaim | Abigail Cook of Billerica, widow of Sears Cook | Her son Francis Cook of Billerica, yeoman | widow releases Sears Cook's lands to Francis Cook | 296/431 (South) |
For $1,500, the widow releases "all the right title and interest to all the real Estate which ever belonged to my late husband Sears Cook late of said Billerica gentleman deceased wherever the same may be situate," keeping only the use of the part of the dwelling house and the firewood left to her by his will. Dated Oct. 1, 1816, acknowledged Oct. 9, 1816 before Josiah Crosby Jr., recorded Aug. 3, 1830. With the will (probate 5053), it gave Francis Cook the twenty acres on the Concord road. Billerica town book 14, pages 287-288.
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| January 19, 1830 | Warranty Deed | Francis Cook of Billerica, yeoman, and Elizabeth Cook his wife (dower) | Jonathan Hill of Billerica, yeoman | Francis Cook sells the 20 acres to Jonathan Hill | 293/432 (South) |
For $300, "a certain tract of land containing twenty acres more or less," beginning by the road from Billerica Meetinghouse to Concord at land of Jonas Bacon, south by the road to "land set off as dower to Peter Hills wife," east by the dower land to land of Joseph Jaquith, north by Jaquith to Bacon and west by Bacon to the road. No buildings and no title recital. Dated May 15, 1819, acknowledged June 3, 1819 before Blaney Abbot, but not recorded until Jan. 19, 1830. Billerica town book 14, pages 245-246. These are the twenty acres Hill sold to Samuel Cole in 1835.
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| May 23, 1835 | Warranty Deed | Jonathan Hill of Billerica, gentleman | Samuel Cole of Billerica, blacksmith | Samuel Cole, blacksmith, buys the 20 acres that later held the station lot | 341/485 (South) |
For $375, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica containing twenty acres more or less," beginning by "the road leading from Billerica Meeting house to Concord at land of George Bacon," south by the road to land of Joseph F. Hill, east by Joseph's land, north by "my Pond meadow lot" to Bacon and west by Bacon to the road; also the seven acre "Pond Meadow" behind it, bounded by the dower land of Susan Jaquith, George Bacon, Henry Crosby, Amos Adams and the heirs of Isaac French. No buildings are named: the land was bare when Cole bought it. Dated Feb. 3, 1835, witnessed by Marshall Preston and Lucretia Hill. Billerica town book 15, pages 110-111.
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| August 28, 1886 | Warranty Deed | Mary Cole of Waltham, widow of Samuel Cole, "being unmarried" | Isaac L. Watts of Waltham | the widow Mary Cole sells the Cole homestead | 183/445 |
For $1,300, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in the town of Billerica": from the northwest corner "on the road leading from Billerica to Bedford at land of E. J. Hill," south by the road to land of Mrs. Boyden, around the Boyden house lot by its walls, by the road to Hill again, east by Hill "as the wall now stands" to "the lot called Pond Meadow," south by Hill to Mrs. Boyden, east by a wall and ditch to land formerly of Harvey Crosby, north by Crosby to E. J. Hill and west to the start, "containing twenty five acres." The buyer assumes the 1886 taxes. No title recital: the widow held Samuel Cole's homestead (twenty acres and the Pond Meadow of 1835, less the Boyden house lot and the 1877 corner). Witnessed by E. A. Harrington and Mary E. Gragg, the Coles' daughter. Dated Aug. 26, 1886.
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| October 20, 1890 | Warranty Deed | Isaac L. Watts of Bedford and Martha E. Watts his wife | Herbert F. Colby of Bedford | Watts sells the former Cole place to Colby | 219/545 |
For $1,500, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon" in Billerica, the same twenty-five acres as in the 1886 deed from Mary Cole: from the road leading from Billerica to Bedford at land of E. J. Hill, around Mrs. Boyden's house lot, to "the lot called Pond Meadow," land formerly of Harvey Crosby and back to Hill. Dated Oct. 15, 1890, acknowledged before Abram E. Brown. No title recital.
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| February 13, 1897 | Quitclaim | Herbert F. Colby of Billerica and Abbie P. Colby his wife | Isaac L. Watts of Arlington | Colby gives the place back to Watts | 281/575 |
"In consideration of one dollar and other valid considerations," Colby quitclaims back to his mortgagee "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon," the same twenty-five acres on the road from Billerica to Bedford, "Being the estate conveyed to Herbert F. Colby by Isaac L. Watts by deed of October 15th 1890" (Book 219), subject to the mortgage to Watts. Dated Jan. 16, 1897: a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
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| February 13, 1897 | Warranty Deed | Isaac L. Watts of Arlington and Martha Eliza Watts his wife | Sarah L. Williams of Bedford, wife of James Williams | Watts sells to Sarah L. Williams | 281/576 |
For $1,400, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon" in Billerica, the same twenty-five acres. The recital spells out the chain: "the same conveyed to me by Mary Cole, August 26, 1886 ... Devised to Mary Cole by will of her husband Samuel Cole, duly admitted to probate in Middlesex County. Conveyed to Samuel Cole by Jonathan Hill under date of Feb. 3, 1835," South District Book 341, page 485. Dated Feb. 12, 1897, witnessed by Abram E. Brown.
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| August 17, 1897 | Warranty Deed | Sarah L. Williams of Bedford, widow | Hannah Morrill of Wilmington, wife of John W. Morrill | Williams sells to Hannah Morrill, who sold the railway its lots | 287/400 |
"In consideration of one dollar and other good and valuable consideration," "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon" in Billerica, the same twenty-five acres on the road from Billerica to Bedford (E. J. Hill, Mrs. Boyden, the Pond Meadow, Harvey Crosby), "being the same premises conveyed to the said Sarah L. by Isaac L. Watts by deed dated February 12, 1897" (Book 281, page 576), subject to "a mortgage for $1100, accrued interest and taxes for 1897," which the grantee assumes. Dated July 9, 1897, acknowledged in Suffolk County before Geo. R. Blinn.
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| December 4, 1899 | Warranty Deed | D. J. Folsom of Billerica (Lizzie E. Folsom his wife releasing dower) | Lexington & Boston Street Railway Company | another 1899 right-of-way lot of the same line, north of Riverhurst (not the station lot) | 314/431 |
For one dollar "and other good and valuable considerations," 1,280 square feet "beginning at a point on the west side of Bedford Road at a corner of land of said Folsom and Joseph Jaquith," northwesterly on Jaquith's land 50 feet, northeasterly on other land of Folsom 51 feet to the road and southerly by the road 69 feet. Dated Nov. 27, 1899, acknowledged before Frederic A. Morey. One of four Bedford Road lots the company bought in Billerica in the week of Dec. 4-20, 1899 (Folsom, Joseph N. Pardee, Joseph Jaquith and Hannah Morrill), this one a corner for the track on the west side of the road near the Jaquith land at the Middlesex Turnpike crossing, north of Riverhurst.
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| December 20, 1899 | Warranty Deed | John W. Morrill of Billerica and Hannah Morrill his wife, in her right | Lexington and Boston Street Railway Company | the railway buys the corner of the Morrill (Cole) land | 315/53 |
"In consideration of One Dollar and other good and valuable considerations," a triangle of 9,910 square feet at the north end of the old Cole land: "beginning at a point on the Easterly side of the Bedford Road ... about two hundred and three (203) feet northerly from the southerly boundary wall of said Morrill," running "first northerly and then easterly along the east and south side of the said Bedford Road about two hundred and eighty one (281) feet to a point at or near an angle in said side line of the Road," then southwesterly about 235 feet "over land of said Morrill" to the start; "being part of the same premises conveyed to the said Hannah Morrill by Sarah L. Williams" (Book 287, page 400). Dated Nov. 30, 1899. This was the corner where the 1853 map shows Samuel Cole's blacksmith shop, and the railway built its line and station there in 1900.
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| June 27, 1901 | Quitclaim | John W. Morrill and Hannah Morrill his wife, in her right, of Billerica | Lexington and Boston Street Railway Company | land for the Riverhurst storage battery station | 332/208 |
"In consideration of one dollar and other valuable considerations," 5,000 square feet "beginning at a point on the southeasterly side of Bedford street in said Billerica northeasterly of the house and barn of said Morrill," 100 feet deep and 50 feet on the street, "as shown on a Plan of land of the Lexington and Boston street Railway Company for Storage Battery Station surveyed by Leonard Metcalf" (Plan Book 17, Plan 36), on condition that the railway "build a substantial four strand wire fence" four feet high around it; "a portion of the premises conveyed to me by Sarah L. Williams" (Book 287, page 400). Dated June 1901.
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| November 12, 1913 | Warranty Deed | Hannah Morrill of Billerica, unmarried | Edward M. Mace and Fanny F. Mace his wife, of Hollis, N.H., joint tenants | Hannah Morrill sells the farm to the Maces, excepting the two railway lots | 514/228 |
"For consideration paid," the land "with the buildings thereon" on the road from Billerica to Bedford, with the old bounds (E. J. Hill, Mrs. Boyden, the Pond Meadow, Harvey Crosby), "excepting, however, ... such portions thereof as have been conveyed by the grantor to the Lexington & Boston Street Railway Company by deeds dated November 30, 1899 and June 26, 1901" (Book 315, page 53 and Book 332, page 208); twenty-five acres, "a portion of the premises to me conveyed by Sarah L. Williams" (Book 287, page 400). Dated Nov. 12, 1913, acknowledged before Arthur C. Spalding.
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| December 29, 1916 | County Order | Middlesex County Commissioners (Levi S. Gould, Erson B. Barlow, Alfred L. Cutting) | Town of Billerica (relocation of Concord Road) | 1916 county relocation of Concord Road past the station lot | 566/189 |
"In the matter of the relocation of the Concord Road, in the town of Billerica," the County Commissioners, at their meeting at Lowell on the first Tuesday of September 1916, issued their return dated Dec. 16, 1916 and on Dec. 23, 1916 ordered "the accompanying plan filed in the Registry of Deeds" (Plan Book M-104). The layout plan (sheet 5) straightens the old bend at Riverhurst, taking small areas from Edward M. Mace, Jenner Nelson, Edward F. Judkins and the Hobbs and Stowell registered land, and shows the railway lot with its building on the southeast side of the road opposite Meadow Lane.
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| April 8, 1927 | Quitclaim | Middlesex & Boston Street Railway Company, by Pitt F. Drew, president | William H. Greene of Arlington | the railway sells the battery station lot | 748/131 |
"For consideration paid," the 5,000 square foot storage battery station lot "on the southeasterly side of Bedford Street in said Billerica northeasterly of the house and barn of John W. Morrill," 100 by 50 feet as on Plan Book 17, Plan 36, "Being the same premises conveyed to the Lexington and Boston Street Railway Company by John W. Morrill and Hannah Morrill by deed dated June 26, 1901." Dated March 17, 1927, three years after the company replaced its Billerica trolleys with buses.
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| June 16, 1930 | Partial Release of Mortgage | Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company, trustee | William H. Greene of Arlington | railway bondholders release the station lot | 791/417 |
The trustee under the mortgage indenture from the Middlesex & Boston Street Railway Company dated Feb. 1, 1912 (Middlesex South Book 3666, page 1), "for consideration paid," releases its interest in "a certain parcel of land situate in Billerica" of 5,000 square feet, the battery station lot of Plan Book 17, Plan 36, "Being the same premises conveyed to the Lexington and Boston Street Railway Company by John W. Morrill and Hannah Morrill by deed dated June 26, 1901." Signed by Charles E. Rogerson, president, March 15, 1927; recorded June 16, 1930.
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| June 16, 1930 | Quitclaim | William H. Greene of Arlington and Ida M. Greene his wife | Helen Mikulskis of Boston | the station lot goes to Helen Mikulskis | 791/418 |
"For consideration paid," the same 5,000 square feet on the southeasterly side of Bedford Street northeasterly of the Morrill house and barn (Plan Book 17, Plan 36), "as conveyed to me by the Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Company by its deed dated March 17th, 1927" (Book 748, page 131), subject to the 1930 taxes. Dated May 31, 1930. The Mikulsky family had bought the surrounding Cole land in 1928.
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| June 6, 1946 | Quitclaim | Peter Mikulskis and Helen M. Mikulskis his wife, of Boston | A private buyer of Billerica | the former station lot, now with a building, sold to a private buyer | 1045/255 |
"For consideration paid," "A certain parcel of land, with the buildings thereon," on the southeasterly side of "Bedford Street otherwise called Concord Road," northeasterly of the house and barn of John W. Morrill, 100 by 50 feet as on Plan Book 17, Plan 36, 5,000 square feet, "Being the same premises conveyed to the said Helen M. Mikulskis by deed of William H. Greene, dated May 31, 1930" (Book 791, page 418), with the furnaces, heaters and other fixtures in the buildings. Dated June 5, 1946. Route 3 took the lot as Parcel 45 in 1953.
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| October 2, 1953 | Taking | Ozeline Wise et al. | Commonwealth of Massachusetts | Route 3 takes the former station lot, Parcel 45 | 1236/297 |
Department of Public Works Layout No. 4072 and Order of Taking for the limited access relocation of the Middlesex Turnpike "to become Route 3," with a relocation of Concord Road beginning about 1700 feet from "The Maples, Inc." at the junction of Riverhurst and Concord Roads. Parcel 44, a 0.18 acre strip 234.68 ft along the Concord Road frontage of Ozeline Wise's Lot A1 (Certificate 5623), is taken for a $1 award, along with her rights in the private way Riverhurst Road (Land Court Case 2792, Parcel R-5). Plan 2792-Q (H. G. Gray, Sept. 15, 1953) labels the road "Concord Road (formerly Main Road)"; the strip was re-registered to the Commonwealth as Certificate 9222 (May 12, 1954) and the rest of Lot A1 stayed on Certificate 5623.
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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.