Point of interest · 1945
Billerica - Wilmington Landing Field and Airport
Billerica - Wilmington Landing Field and Airport
| Address | Alexander Rd |
| Built | 1945 |
The Billerica-Wilmington Airport, first charted as Shawsheen Pines, was a small commercial airfield on the Wilmington line in South Billerica, on the land between Alexander Road and Cook Street that runs east to Lubbers Brook and a little way into Wilmington. It was opened by Billerica-Wilmington Airways, Inc. in 1945 and 1946, flew students, charters and private planes until the early 1950s, and was lost to foreclosure in 1954. Its single runway was used informally into the 1960s, and the land is now an industrial district along Alexander Road.
The field was the old farm of George Gleason of Burlington, "about one hundred acres ... with the buildings thereon" on the southeast side of the Shawsheen River, which Jonas Alexander bought in 1871 for $2,500 and his family held for more than fifty years. In 1927 Mary C. Alexander sold it to the L. C. Morang Co., which laid it out on paper as "Shawsheen Pines", a grid of house lots and streets drawn by Henry F. Bryant & Son (Plan Book 50, Plan 61). Few lots were sold, and in 1941 John D. Cooke of Wilmington, holder of the Alexander mortgage, took the unsold land by foreclosure.
On April 2, 1945 Cooke sold the tract between Alexander Street, the town line, Lubbers Brook, Aldrich Road and Cook Street to Alanson E. Stewart of Chelmsford and Russell B. Totman of Reading, and on September 12, 1945 the two conveyed it to Billerica Wilmington Airways, Inc., a new Massachusetts corporation, which also bought 58 more Shawsheen Pines lots from Cooke. In October 1945 the company's directors and stockholders voted to borrow $12,500 from the Woburn National Bank, signed by "the President, Russell B. Totman, and the Treasurer, Fred F. Cain", and in November it borrowed $35,000 from the Newton-Waltham Bank and Trust Company. Later recollections, collected from the Wilmington Town Crier and local pilots, call the founder Russell Todman of Woburn and describe Cain as an automobile dealer who bought three AT-6 trainers and two Cessnas in Texas for the field. A pilot recalled soloing there in 1945, and by the spring of 1946 the company was advertising "Flight Instruction, Chartered Flights, Sales & Service" from Wilmington, telephone Billerica 940, in the Howe High School yearbook.
The field appears on the Boston sectional chart of July 1946 as Shawsheen Pines. A "Sketch Plan of Billerica-Wilmington Landing Field & Airport", dated August 1946, was recorded on November 26, 1946 (Plan Book 69, Plan 63) with a ten-year agreement that gave the Cities Service Oil Company the exclusive right to sell aviation and automobile fuel on the "Airport Premises". The plan shows "Runway #1 East-West" running from near Alexander Street east-southeast across the town line, two "Proposed Runways" that were never built, and along the north edge, toward Hopkins Street, a hangar, "T Hangers & Taxi Strip" and two fuel areas. The agreement describes "two hangers on the Airport Premises, one already erected ... and one to be erected", which Cities Service was to paint, and commits the oil company to surface 47,000 square yards of the runway and 18,250 square yards of taxi strip with bituminous material, up to $12,000. The same day the company took a $70,000 mortgage from the Newton-Waltham bank, signed by Fred F. Cain as treasurer, with John H. Hanson as clerk. A 1949 chart gives a 2,200 foot paved runway.
The company advertised student instruction and "Charter Flights, Best in Planes" through 1949 and was still in the Howe yearbook in 1952. Pilots remembered about ten Piper Cubs on the field around 1946 and an "Authorized Cessna Service" sign. After an AT-6 crashed, Cain reportedly wanted out, and the instructor John Hanson and the mechanic Teed (Frank Teed in the Tewksbury account) left to run their flight school, Four Star Aviation, Inc., at the new Tew-Mac Airport in Tewksbury, where Hanson became the first manager in 1951. By November 1948 the corporation's officers were Frank B. Hosmer, treasurer, and Lawrence S. Burke, clerk, when it refinanced with a twelve-year mortgage of $62,500. In 1949 the Selectmen granted "the last available liquor license" in town, a club license, to the Sky Club, Inc. on Alexander Road, and in January 1951 the company leased "the Administration Building of the Billerica-Wilmington Airways, Inc." on Alexander Road to Russell B. Totman.
The airport did not last. In 1953 an insurance company's attachment was discharged, Wilmington took the company's lots there for unpaid 1952 taxes, and the bank began foreclosure. At auction on February 8, 1954 the field was sold to the bank's bidder for $42,130.73, the "$45,000" of later accounts, and passed within weeks to a Boston-area investor and his sand and gravel company. The last chart to show the field is the Boston sectional of May 1953, with a 2,100 foot paved runway. A 1963 airfield directory still listed a private strip of 1,300 feet, local pilots used it into the 1960s, and the Quonset-style hangars with checkerboard roofs stood until the 1970s; they appear on a 1971 aerial photograph and are gone, with only foundations left, by 1978. A nightclub near the old field, the Skyport Lounge, is remembered from the late 1960s.
One private owner held the old airport tract from 1954 to 1981. Town meeting refused to rezone it from industrial to residential in 1960 and again in 1981, and in 1975 voted down, 125 to 23, a proposal to take 30 acres of it for a school. In 1981 the tract was sold for $625,000 to a realty trust, and from 1986 its frontage on Alexander Road was divided into industrial lots: a warehouse at 19 Alexander Road (1988), the Alexander Road Industrial Condominium at 77 and 83 Alexander Road (1989), and the data center built in 2000 for MCI WorldCom at 41 Alexander Road, now Equinix BO2. Aerial photographs show a large industrial building over the old hangar area by 1995. About 49 acres of the old field toward Lubbers Brook, including much of the runway, remain undeveloped, flooded in part by beaver ponds. Cessna Road, a way in the industrial district named in a 2006 town taking of road easements, appears to take its name from the airfield.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1849 | Will | Estate of Joseph Gleason of Burlington | His widow Sarah Gleason and children Amira Buck, Susan W. Cutler, Joseph Gleason and George Gleason | 1849: will of Joseph Gleason; his homestead farm on the Billerica-Wilmington line | Probate #32727 |
Will of Joseph Gleason of Burlington, dated October 19, 1847 (witnesses Abner Marion, Richard J. Alley, Henry Nichols), probated 1849. He left $1,000 each to his daughters Amira Buck, wife of Sewall Buck of Wilmington, and Susan W. Cutler, wife of Silas Cutler of Burlington, "to be holden by her in her own right and free from the control or interference of her husband"; $1,200 each to his sons Joseph Gleason of Medford and George Gleason of Burlington, less advances; to his wife Sarah, besides her dower, the household furniture and $300; and "All the rest and residue of my estate both real and personal" equally to the four children. Son George was sole executor; the widow and heirs assented to probate. The residue included his homestead farm of about 100 acres straddling the Billerica-Wilmington line on the southeast side of the Shawsheen River.
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| July 12, 1852 | Quitclaim | Sarah Gleason of Burlington, widow, and the heirs of Joseph Gleason: Joseph Gleason of Medford, Sewall and Amira Buck, Silas and Susan W. Cutler, and George Gleason of Burlington | Asa G. Sheldon of Wilmington, Esquire | 1850: Gleason heirs to Asa G. Sheldon, the homestead farm | 634/538 (South) |
Dated April 1, 1850, recorded July 12, 1852 (Billerica town book 19, pages 300-302). For $1,792 the widow and "Heirs at Law of Joseph Gleason of Burlington" quitclaim "the following parcel of real estate situated in the towns of Billerica and Wilmington being the homestead of the late Joseph Gleason containing one hundred acres more or less", beginning at "the public road which leads thro said real estate at the town line separating Wilmington and Billerica", by the heirs of Timothy Carter, Sewall Buck, "Lubbers Brook", the heirs of Sears Cook, an old ditch and a wall "crossing said public road till it comes to Shawsheen River", by the river to the Wilmington line, and by land sold to Jonathan Wright and land of Charles Hopkins back to the road. A straw conveyance: Sheldon deeded the farm to George Gleason the same day.
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| July 12, 1852 | Quitclaim | Asa G. Sheldon of Wilmington (Clarissa Sheldon releasing dower) | George Gleason of Burlington, trader | 1850: Sheldon to George Gleason | 634/540 (South) |
Dated April 1, 1850, acknowledged June 26, 1852, recorded July 12, 1852 (Billerica town book 19, pages 303-304). For $1,792 Sheldon quitclaims to George Gleason "the homestead of the late Joseph Gleason containing one hundred acres more or less" in Billerica and Wilmington, by the same bounds as the heirs' deed to him (the public road at the town line, the heirs of Timothy Carter, Sewall Buck, Lubbers Brook, the heirs of Sears Cook, the Shawsheen River, Jonathan Wright and Charles Hopkins). With the heirs' deed recorded just before it, this put the whole farm in the son George. Hazen and the 1853 Walling map show "G. Gleason and A. G. Sheldon" at the house on the road, now about 71 Alexander Road.
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| 1858 | Administration | Estate of George Gleason of Burlington | His only child George Henry Gleason, a minor; Silas Cutler, administrator | 1858: estate of George Gleason; "Farm situated in Billerica & Wilmington $2000" | Probate #32721 |
Silas Cutler of Burlington, shoe manufacturer and husband of Susan W. Cutler, petitioned that George Gleason "who last dwelt in Burlington" had died intestate within three months, leaving no widow and one minor child, George Henry Gleason; Amira G. Buck, Susan W. Cutler and William S. Gleason as guardian assented, and Cutler was appointed administrator at Cambridge August 24, 1858. The inventory of August 25, 1858 lists notes signed by Jonas Alexander among the personal estate ($2,899.71) and real estate of $2,510: "Farm situated in Billerica & Wilmington $2000", Carter Meadow, woodlots and the Path wood lot.
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| December 7, 1871 | Warranty Deed | George H. Gleason of Concord, unmarried | Jonas Alexander of Billerica | 1871: George H. Gleason to Jonas Alexander, about 100 acres, $2,500 | 83/461 |
Dated October 20, 1871, acknowledged November 11, 1871 before Dudley Foster, recorded December 7, 1871. For $2,500, "all that lot of land in said Billerica on the Southeast side of Shawsheen River formerly owned by George Gleason, containing about one hundred acres, more or less, with the buildings thereon", beginning at a swamp white oak tree, southeast on land formerly of Sears Cook about 160 poles to a stake and stones near Lubbers Brook, northeasterly on Sears J. Cook about 30 rods to the town bound, by Cook 6 rods to Lubbers Brook, easterly by the brook 50 rods, northerly 12 rods by Alanson Jaquith to a town bound, "still Northerly by land of said Alexander & land of Charles Hopkins" to the town bound at the Shawsheen River, and westerly by the river. George H. Gleason was the only child and heir of George Gleason (probate 32721). Alexander gave back a $2,000 mortgage to Gleason.
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| February 24, 1872 | Quitclaim | Jonas Alexander of Billerica | William Nichols of Lowell | 1872: Jonas Alexander to William Nichols | 84/539 |
Dated and recorded February 24, 1872 (5:30 PM). For $2,000, fifteen acres in the westerly part of Wilmington (by the heirs of Edward Beard, the heir of George Gleason, Alanson Jaquith and the late Sewall Buck) "Also a lot of land in Billerica aforesaid, on the southeast side of Shawsheen river formerly owned by George Gleason & conveyed to me by George H. Gleason, containing about one hundred acres, more or less, with the buildings thereon", by the same bounds; "Being the same premises conveyed by George H. Gleason to me by his deed dated October 20th A.D. 1871" (the deed cites Book 88 Page 461; it is recorded in Book 83 Page 461); the Billerica lot subject to the $2,000 mortgage to Gleason. A straw deed: Nichols conveyed both lots the same day to Alexander's wife Hannah.
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| February 24, 1872 | Quitclaim | William Nichols of Lowell (Charlotte A. Nichols releasing dower) | Hannah Alexander, wife of Jonas Alexander, of Billerica | 1872: Nichols to Hannah Alexander | 84/541 |
Dated and recorded February 24, 1872. For $2,000 "paid by Hannah Alexander wife of Jabez [Jonas] Alexander, of Billerica", the fifteen acres in Wilmington and "a lot of land in Billerica aforesaid, on the southeast side of Shawsheen river, formerly owned by George Gleason, and conveyed to Jonas Alexander by George H. Gleason, containing about one hundred acres more or less with the buildings thereon"; "Said premises herein described being the same conveyed to me this day by Jabez Alexander and being subject to a mortgage of two thousand dollars, to George H. Gleason". She was to hold it "free from all interference and control of her husband". The index files the grantee as Jabez's wife; the land had come from Jonas.
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| January 13, 1883 | Warranty Deed | Hannah Alexander of Billerica, widow | Her sons Jonas Watson Alexander and Frank Hume Alexander of Billerica | 1882: Hannah Alexander to her sons | 157/239 |
Dated October 31, 1882 before Dudley Foster, recorded January 13, 1883. For $5 and other valuable consideration, "A certain tract of land in said Billerica on the South East side of Shawsheen River formerly owned by George Gleason, containing about one hundred acres, more or less, with the buildings thereon", by the swamp white oak tree, Sears Cook, Lubbers Brook, Sears J. Cook, Alanson Jaquith, "land of or formerly of Jonas Alexander and land of Charles Hopkins" and the town bound at the Shawsheen River. "There is a mortgage of Twelve Hundred Dollars upon said premises, which the grantees agree to pay and discharge." Jonas Alexander had died by 1882. The brothers appear in the town records as Alexander Bros., and the road past the farm was named Alexander Street in 1897.
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| February 1, 1907 | Quitclaim | Jonas Watson Alexander of Billerica (Alice B. Alexander releasing dower and homestead) | His brother Frank Hume Alexander of Billerica | 1907: J. Watson Alexander to Frank H. Alexander | 399/567 |
Dated and acknowledged January 23, 1907, recorded about February 1, 1907. For one dollar and other considerations, "one undivided half part of a certain tract of land in said Billerica on the southeast side of the Shawsheen River formerly owned by George Gleason containing about one hundred acres more or less, with the buildings thereon", by the same bounds (the swamp white oak, Sears Cook, Lubbers Brook, Alanson Jaquith heirs, "land formerly of Jonas Alexander and of Charles Hopkins"); "Being the same premises described in a deed to the grantor and grantee from Hannah Alexander, dated October 31, 1882 ... Book 157 Page 239." Frank H. Alexander, farmer and later a town assessor, then owned the whole Gleason farm; the same year he bought the 44-acre "Cook Pasture" from George C. Crosby (Book 405 Page 384).
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| March 1, 1927 | Quitclaim | Mary C. Alexander of Billerica, unmarried | L. C. Morang Co., a Massachusetts corporation | 1927: Mary C. Alexander to L. C. Morang Co., laid out as Shawsheen Pines | 747/9 |
Recorded about March 1, 1927, after the company's vote authorizing its treasurer L. C. Morang. Quitclaim of "the land in Billerica and Wilmington": first, registered land in Wilmington and Billerica on Hopkins Street (Certificate 1476, Book 12 Page 161); "Second, The land in said Billerica on the southeast side of the Shawsheen River, formerly owned by George Gleason, containing about one hundred (100) acres, more or less, with the buildings thereon", "Being the same premises described in deed from Jonas Watson Alexander to Frank Hume Alexander, dated January 23, 1907 ... Book 399, Page 567"; third, 14 acres in Wilmington; fourth, the "Cook Pasture" of about 44 acres; fifth and sixth, Wilmington land on Hopkins Street. The company gave back a purchase mortgage to Mary C. Alexander dated March 1, 1927 (Book 747 Page 11) and in April 1927 had the land platted as "Shawsheen Pines, Billerica - Wilmington - Mass." (Plan Book 50 Plan 61).
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| December 11, 1941 | Foreclosure Deed | John D. Cooke of Wilmington, assignee of the mortgage of L. C. Morang Co. to Mary C. Alexander | John D. Cooke | 1941: John D. Cooke forecloses the Morang mortgage | 971/10 |
Signed November 25, 1941, recorded December 11, 1941. "I, JOHN D. COOKE, assignee and present holder of a mortgage from L. C. Morang Co. to Mary C. Alexander, dated March 1, 1927 ... Book 747, Page 11, by the power conferred by said mortgage ... for one thousand dollars paid, grant to John D. Cooke, the premises conveyed by said mortgage, excepting such lots that have been duly released of record or taken by title paramount": the same six parcels, the second being "The land in said Billerica on the southeast side of the Shawsheen River, formerly owned by George Gleason, containing about one hundred (100) acres, more or less, with the buildings thereon". The sale was advertised in the Billerica News and the Wilmington Mirror in October and November 1941. Most of the Shawsheen Pines lots had never sold.
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| April 2, 1945 | Quitclaim | John D. Cooke of Wilmington (Margaret R. Cooke releasing dower) | Alanson E. Stewart of Chelmsford and Russell B. Totman of Reading, joint tenants | April 1945: Cooke to Alanson E. Stewart and Russell B. Totman, the future airfield | 1020/462 |
Dated and recorded April 2, 1945. For consideration paid, the land in Wilmington and Billerica on the Shawsheen Pines plan (Plan Book 50 Plan 61) from the northeasterly corner of Alexander Street and Jefferson Street, by Jefferson and Jaquith Streets to Lubbers Brook, along the brook to Bousefield, southwesterly by Bousefield 1,988 feet to Aldrich Road, westerly by Aldrich Road and "by Cook Street in Billerica to Alexander Street" and by Alexander Street to the beginning, excepting the lots already sold in Blocks 52-54, 74-77, 81 and 82, subject to an easement to the Lowell Cranberry Company (Book 986 Page 555). "For my title see deeds to me recorded ... Book 971, Page 10 and Book 972, Page 307."
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| October 24, 1945 | Mortgage | Billerica-Wilmington Airways, Inc., of Billerica | Woburn National Bank, of Woburn | Oct. 1945: Woburn National Bank mortgage; Totman president, Cain treasurer | 1028/588 |
Votes of the directors and of the stockholders of Billerica-Wilmington Airways, Inc. at special meetings in Billerica on October 10, 1945, all present, to "borrow the sum of Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($12,500.) from the Woburn National Bank" for ten years at four per cent, $77.75 a month, "secured by a first mortgage on all the real estate of the corporation situated in Billerica and Wilmington", authorizing "the President, Russell B. Totman, and the Treasurer, Fred F. Cain" to sign (attest John C. Donahue, Clerk); followed by the mortgage, "the land in Billerica and Wilmington ... with the buildings thereon", First Parcel the Shawsheen Pines tract (Plan Book 50 Plan 61). Recorded October 24, 1945. The deed of September 1945 to the company was made subject to a Woburn National Bank mortgage.
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| September 14, 1945 | Quitclaim | Alanson E. Stewart of Chelmsford and Russell B. Totman of Reading (wives releasing dower) | Billerica Wilmington Airways, Inc., of Billerica | Sept. 1945: Stewart and Totman to Billerica Wilmington Airways, Inc. | 1029/268 |
Dated September 12, 1945, recorded September 14, 1945. The land in Billerica and Wilmington on "Shawsheen Pines, Billerica-Wilmington, Mass., April 1927, Henry F. Bryant & Son, Surveyors" (Plan Book 50 Plan 61), "Beginning on Alexander Street at the Wilmington-Billerica town line", by Barnes to the center of Lubbers Brook at Bousefield, by Bousefield 1,988 feet to Aldrich Road, by Aldrich Road and Cook Street to Alexander Street, and by Alexander Street to the beginning, excepting the sold lots; subject to the Lowell Cranberry Company easement; "This conveyance is made subject to a mortgage held by Woburn Nat. Bank which the grantee assumes and agrees to pay." A second parcel, Wilmington Heights lots 528-548 and 605-615, came from Sylvester Doran. The company's name suggests it meant to build an airfield on the old farm.
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| November 19, 1945 | Mortgage | Billerica-Wilmington Airways, Inc., of Billerica | Newton-Waltham Bank and Trust Company | Nov. 1945: $35,000 mortgage to Newton-Waltham Bank and Trust Co. | 1030/222 |
Recorded November 19, 1945. Mortgage "to secure the payment of thirty five thousand dollars in eighteen months", interest quarterly, on "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in Billerica and Wilmington": First Parcel the Shawsheen Pines tract from Alexander Street at the Wilmington-Billerica town line by Barnes to Lubbers Brook, by Bousefield 1,988 feet to Aldrich Road, by Aldrich Road and Cook Street to Alexander Street, with excepted lots; Second, Wilmington Heights lots; Third, the Block 32-34 lots from John D. Cooke; Fourth, Wilmington registered land. Also registered as Document 17368 on Certificate 6759. Discharged by the bank on November 26, 1946 (recorded at the head of Book 1054 Page 18).
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| October 24, 1945 | Quitclaim | John D. Cooke of Wilmington (Margaret R. Cooke releasing dower and homestead) | Billerica-Wilmington Airways Inc., of Billerica | Oct. 1945: 58 more Shawsheen Pines lots to the airport company | 1031/197 |
Signed October 8, 1945, recorded October 24, 1945. For consideration paid ($1.10 stamps), "fifty-eight (58) lots of land as shown on a plan of land known as 'Shawsheen Pines' dated April 1927" (Plan Book 50 Plan 61): Lots 15 to 24 and 39 to 48 in Block 32, Lots 13 to 28 and 45 to 62 in Block 33, and Lots 23, 24, 57 and 58 in Block 34. Title by three earlier deeds to Cooke. These lots became the Third Parcel of the airport premises.
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| November 26, 1946 | Indenture | Billerica Wilmington Airways, Inc., of Billerica | Cities Service Oil Company, of Boston | Nov. 1946: Cities Service fuel agreement, recorded with the airport plan; hangar, runway and taxi strip | 1054/18 |
Dated November 1, 1946, recorded November 26, 1946 (pages 18-25) with the plan "Sketch Plan of the Billerica-Wilmington Landing Field & Airport Approx. Scale: 1 inch = 280 ft. August 1946" (Plan Book 69 Plan 63). For ten years from November 1, 1946 the company grants Cities Service the exclusive right to store and sell gasoline and petroleum products on the "Airport Premises": two 5,000-gallon underground tanks and two fueling units in the "Airplane Gasolene Storage Facilities" area and an automobile station in the "Automotive Gasolene Storage Facilities" area, with ways from Alexander Road and Cook Street. The company covenants to "use all reasonable efforts to develop the business of a commercial airport". Cities Service agrees to paint "two hangers on the Airport Premises, one already erected and designated as 'Hanger #1' on said plan, and one to be erected", and to improve "Runway #1. East - West" and the taxi strip, up to $12,000: bituminous surface on 47,000 square yards of runway and 18,250 square yards of taxi strip. Signed by Fred F. Cain, Treasurer, and B. J. Hull, Sales Manager; votes of November 5, 1946 certified by John H. Hanson, Clerk.
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| November 26, 1946 | Mortgage | Billerica-Wilmington Airways, Inc., of Billerica | Newton-Waltham Bank and Trust Company | Nov. 1946: $70,000 mortgage, signed by Fred F. Cain, treasurer | 1054/25 |
Signed November 26, 1946 by Fred F. Cain, Treasurer, acknowledged before James E. Henchey, J.P., recorded November 26, 1946 (pages 25-28). Mortgage "to secure the payment of Seventy Thousand Dollars in or within one year", on "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in Billerica and Wilmington": the same four parcels, including "all portable or sectional buildings" and fixtures. It replaced the bank's 1945 mortgage, discharged the same day.
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| November 29, 1948 | Mortgage | Billerica-Wilmington Airways, Inc., of Billerica | Newton-Waltham Bank and Trust Company | Nov. 1948: $62,500 mortgage, foreclosed in 1954 | 1103/502 |
Vote of the directors on November 24, 1948 "to authorize the Treasurer, Frank B. Hosmer" to give the bank a mortgage and note for $62,500 (attest Lawrence S. Burke, Clerk); the mortgage secures "Sixty-two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars in or within 12 years", monthly installments due on the 24th, on "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in Billerica and Wilmington", the same four parcels (Shawsheen Pines tract, Wilmington Heights lots, Block 32-34 lots, Wilmington registered land). Recorded November 29, 1948. Foreclosed by the bank in 1954.
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| March 8, 1954 | Foreclosure Deed | Newton-Waltham Bank and Trust Company, mortgagee of Billerica-Wilmington Airways, Inc. | John Harrison of Boston | 1954: Newton-Waltham Bank and Trust Co. forecloses the airport, auction price $42,130.73 | 1249/34 |
Signed February 8, 1954, recorded March 8, 1954 (pages 34-38). The bank, holder of a mortgage from Billerica-Wilmington Airways, Inc. dated November 24, 1948 (Book 1103 Page 502, also Document 19856 on Certificate 6759), sold under the power of sale for $42,130.73 "A certain parcel of land, with the buildings thereon, situated in Billerica and Wilmington": the Shawsheen Pines tract from Alexander Street at the town line to Lubbers Brook, Aldrich Road and Cook Street, Wilmington Heights lots, lots in Blocks 32-34 bought from John D. Cooke, and Wilmington registered land (Certificate 6759). Notices ran in the Wilmington Crusader in December 1953; Robert Burns, auctioneer, adjourned the sale to February 8, 1954, when John Harrison bid highest.
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| March 8, 1954 | Quitclaim | John Harrison of Brookline, unmarried | Joseph M. Linsey of Brookline | 1954: the auction buyer resells the airport tract | 1249/39 |
Recorded March 8, 1954 with the foreclosure deed. The same four parcels, "with the buildings thereon", the first being the Shawsheen Pines tract on Plan Book 50 Plan 61 beginning on Alexander Street at the town line. "Subject to taxes for the year 1954. For my title, see deed of Newton-Waltham Bank and Trust Company to me dated February 8, 1954, recorded herewith." Harrison resold to Linsey the same day.
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| April 29, 1954 | Quitclaim | Joseph M. Linsey of Brookline, unmarried | Highway Sand & Gravel Inc., of Boston | 1954: to Highway Sand & Gravel Inc. | 1254/17 |
Dated March 24, 1954, recorded about April 29, 1954 (pages 17-18). The same four parcels in Billerica and Wilmington "with the buildings thereon", the first the Shawsheen Pines tract between Alexander Street, the town line, Lubbers Brook, Aldrich Road and Cook Street, excepting the sold lots and subject to the Lowell Cranberry Company easement. "Being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of John Harrison, dated March 8, 1954 ... Book 1249, Page 39."
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| February 2, 1956 | Quitclaim | Highway Sand & Gravel Inc., by Joseph M. Linsey, Treasurer | Joseph M. Linsey of Brookline | 1955: Highway Sand & Gravel Inc. reconveys; held until 1981 | 1325/183 |
Dated December 6, 1955 (excise stamp February 2, 1956; pages 183-184). The same four parcels "with the buildings thereon" in Billerica and Wilmington, the first the Shawsheen Pines tract from Alexander Street at the town line, with the excepted lots listed by block; "Being the same premises conveyed to Highway Sand & Gravel Inc. by deed of Joseph M. Linsey dated March 24, 1954" (Book 1254 Page 17). Linsey held the land for the next 26 years; the town considered taking 30 acres of it on Alexander Road for a school in 1975 but the article lost.
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| October 7, 1981 | Quitclaim | Joseph M. Linsey of Palm Beach, Florida | Elizabeth Caporale, Trustee of Alexander Realty Trust, of Meadowbrook Road, Billerica | 1981: sold to Alexander Realty Trust, $625,000 | 2504/83 |
Signed October 2, 1981, recorded October 7, 1981 (#17961). For $625,000, "A certain parcel of land, with the buildings thereon, situated in Billerica and Wilmington", the first parcel the Shawsheen Pines tract on Plan Book 50 Plan 61 from Alexander Street at the town line to Lubbers Brook, Aldrich Road and Cook Street, less the sold lots and 6.43 acres taken by the Town of Wilmington; "Being the same premises conveyed to Joseph M. Linsey by deed of Highway Sand & Gravel, Inc. dated December 6, 1955 ... Book 1325, Page 183." The trust gave back a purchase-money mortgage to Linsey (Book 2504 Page 86), later partially released lot by lot as the land was sold off.
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| August 17, 1984 | Foreclosure Deed | Frederick J. Conroy, mortgagee of Elizabeth Caporale, Trustee of Alexander Realty Trust | Frederick J. Conroy of Lexington | 1984: mortgage foreclosure | 2826/206 |
Signed August 14, 1984, recorded August 17, 1984. Conroy, holder of a mortgage from Elizabeth Caporale, Trustee of Alexander Realty Trust (declaration October 2, 1981, Book 2504 Page 75) dated November 4, 1981 (Book 2509 Page 231), sold under the power of sale for $300,000 "the premises conveyed by said mortgage": two parcels in Billerica and Wilmington with exceptions, "Property Address: Alexander Road and Cook Street, Billerica".
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| October 1, 1984 | Deed | Frederick J. Conroy of Lexington | Frederick J. Conroy, Trustee of Alexander Realty Trust III, of Lexington | 1984: to Alexander Realty Trust III | 2859/15 |
Dated August 10, 1984, recorded October 1, 1984 (#31110). "A certain parcel of land, with the buildings thereon, situated in Billerica and Wilmington": the Shawsheen Pines tract on Plan Book 50 Plan 61 beginning on Alexander Street at the Wilmington-Billerica town line, by Barnes, Lubbers Brook at Bousefield, 1,988 feet to Aldrich Road, Aldrich Road and Cook Street, with many excepted lots and the 6.43 acres taken by Wilmington (Book 1704 Page 366); Wilmington Heights lots; and Wilmington registered land (Certificate 6759). "Being the same premises conveyed to grantor by foreclosure deed of Frederick J. Conroy dated August 14, 1984 ... Book 2826 Page 206." Leonard Caporale later served as trustee of Alexander Realty Trust III, which sold the land in lots for houses and industry.
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| February 7, 1986 | Quitclaim | Leonard Caporale, Trustee of Alexander Realty Trust III | Antico Development Company, of Waltham | 1986: Lot 3B on Alexander Road to Antico Development Co. | 3347/76 |
Signed and acknowledged February 4, 1986, recorded February 7, 1986. For $482,293.20, "Lot 3B, as shown on a plan entitled 'Re-Division Plan of Land, Billerica, Mass., prepared for Antico Development Corporation dated September 12, 1985, by Ralph J. Bibbo, Reg. Land Surveyor'" (Plan Book 152 Plan 43), "located on the easterly line of Alexander Road": westerly by Alexander Road in six courses, by land of the Town of Billerica and of Alexander Realty Trust III, and by Lot 2, "Containing 371,273.4 square feet more or less or 8.52 acres". The grantor reserved its rights in the Shawsheen Pines "paper streets" of the 1927 plan (Plan Book 50 Plan 61). "For title see deed from Frederick J. Conroy dated August 10, 1984 ... Book 2859, Page 15."
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| July 2, 1986 | Quitclaim | Leonard Caporale, Trustee of Alexander Realty Trust III | Antico Development Co., 184 Felton Street, Waltham | 1986: Lot 4B to Antico Development Co. | 3568/196 |
Signed June 30, 1986, recorded July 2, 1986. For $350,000, "Lot 4B on a plan entitled 'Re-division Plan of Land Billerica - Mass; Prepared for Antico Development Corporation', dated April 18, 1986, by Ralph J. Bibbo" (Plan Book 154 Plan 82), from the corner of Alexander Realty Trust III land and "Jefferson Street (a paper street)", by Jefferson Street 400 feet, Lots 1 and 2, Lot 3B, the Town of Billerica, Alexander Road, Tashjian and Alexander Realty Trust III, "392,624 +/- square feet", with a 40-foot utility right of way on the southwesterly side. The plan joined Lots 3B and 4B as Lot 5B, 17.53 acres. Conroy released the lot from his mortgage the same day (Book 3568 Page 193).
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| August 7, 1986 | Quitclaim | Leonard Caporale, Trustee of Alexander Realty Trust III | Antico Development Co. | 1986: 6.26 acres to Antico Development Co. | 3634/264 |
Signed August 5, 1986, recorded August 7, 1986. For $269,180, "A certain parcel of land situate on Alexander Road ... containing 6.26 acres", shown "as additional land (6.26 acres)" on the Re-Division Plan for Antico Development Corporation dated June 18, 1986 (Plan Book 155 Plan 32): northeasterly by Alexander Road, southeasterly by Alexander Realty Trust III 1,625.28 feet, southwesterly 150 feet, northwesterly and westerly by "said Old Lot 5B", and by land of Tashjian, with a utility right of way on the southwesterly side. The plan made Old Lot 5B and this land New Lot 6B, 23.79 acres.
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| March 21, 1989 | Master Deed | George T. Allen, Jr., Trustee of A & A Realty Trust | The Alexander Road Industrial Condominium | 1989: master deed of the Alexander Road Industrial Condominium | 4834/27 |
Master Deed of The Alexander Road Industrial Condominium, dated March 20, 1989, recorded March 21, 1989 (46 pages). It submitted "The land located at 83 Alexander Street" (Lot 100, Plan Book 166 Plan 18) with the site plan "The Alexander Road Industrial Condominium" by Summit Survey Service of Billerica, February 21, 1989 (Plan Book 168 Plans 87-88), and reserved a second phase: "Phase I - Fourteen (14) Units; Phase II - Twenty (22) Units". The buildings are of "concrete block construction. The roof is or shall be rubber", on poured concrete, and "Each unit shall have a separate heating system", septic tank and water meter. Phase II on Lot 101 at 77 Alexander Road was added by amendments recorded December 1, 1989 (Book 5083 Pages 305 and 312, Plan Book 171 Plans 80-81) and February 6, 1990 (Book 5143 Page 246, Plan Book 172 Plans 46-47); a fourth amendment of 2013 (Book 27152 Page 187) split Units 1 and 2.
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| May 3, 1989 | Quitclaim | Leonard Caporale of Billerica, Trustee of Alexander Realty Trust III | George T. Allen, Jr., Trustee of A & A Realty Trust | 1989: Lot 101 to A & A Realty Trust (77 Alexander Rd) | 4878/219 |
Signed May 2, 1989, recorded May 3, 1989. For $450,000, "Lot 101 on a plan entitled 'Plan of Land in Billerica, Mass.' dated Jan. 3, 1989 by Raymond Engineering Service" (Plan Book 169 Plan 24): northerly by Alexander Street in two courses of 61.54 and 258.84 feet, easterly by land of A & A Realty Trust 337.50 feet, southerly and westerly by land of Alexander Realty Trust III, 110,383 square feet, with no rights in the unbuilt Edgeworth and Fairview Streets of Shawsheen Pines. "Being a portion of the premises conveyed to grantor by deed of Frederick J. Conroy dated August 10, 1984 ... Book 2859, Page 15." Lot 101 is the site of 77 Alexander Road; the trust had bought the neighboring Lot 100 (83 Alexander Road) in September 1988 (Book 4653 Page 87).
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| October 4, 1991 | Deed | Leonard Caporale, Trustee of Alexander Realty Trust III | Leonard Caporale, Trustee of Alexander Family Trust | 1991: the undeveloped east part of the field (parcel 65-83-11) | 5669/91 |
Recorded October 4, 1991. For consideration less than $100, "parcels of land situate in Billerica ... shown as Blocks 48, 49, 50, 51, 59, 71, 74 and 75" on "Shawsheen Pines, Billerica - Wilmington - Mass." (April 1927, Henry F. Bryant & Son, Plan Book 50 Plan 61), "Subject to mortgages of record"; title by the 1984 deed to Alexander Realty Trust III. The assessor carries this land as parcel 65-83-11, 48.983 acres of undeveloped land, the eastern part of the old airfield toward Lubbers Brook, still in the trust in 2026.
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| June 11, 1992 | Quitclaim | Anthony J. Antico, Anthony J. Antico III and John W. Antico, partners in Antico Development Company | Anthony J. Antico of Waltham | 1992: Lots 7 and 8 (19 and 41 Alexander Rd) to Anthony J. Antico | 5974/48 |
Recorded June 11, 1992. For $10 and the grantee's assumption of a $2,000,000 mortgage to BayBank Middlesex dated May 9, 1989 (Book 4883 Page 65), the parcel "now known and numbered 19 Alexander Road": "Lots 7 and 8 as shown on a plan entitled 'Re-Division Plan of Land, Billerica, Mass., prepared for Antico Development Corporation dated February 20, 1987, by Ralph J. Bibbo'" (Plan Book 158 Plan 106), 23.79 acres, with the utility right of way. The 1987 plan divided Lot 6B into Lot 7 (6.12 acres, the 19 Alexander Road building of 1988) and Lot 8 (17.67 acres). The town had taken Lot 8 for 1990 taxes in 1991 (Book 5515 Page 275).
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| June 11, 1992 | Quitclaim | Anthony J. Antico of Waltham | Charlesbank Estates, Inc., 70 Charles River Road, Waltham | 1992: Lots 7 and 8 to Charlesbank Estates, Inc. | 5974/50 |
Dated June 1, 1992, recorded June 11, 1992. For one dollar and the assumption of all outstanding mortgages, 19 Alexander Road, Lots 7 and 8 on Plan Book 158 Plan 106, 23.79 acres, subject to the BayBank mortgage of $2,000,000; "For my title see deed recorded herewith" (Book 5974 Page 48).
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| February 3, 2000 | Quitclaim | Charlesbank Estates, Inc., by Anthony J. Antico, president | MCI WorldCom Network Services, Inc., a Delaware corporation | 2000: Lot 8 to MCI WorldCom, the data center at 41 Alexander Rd | 10653/178 |
Executed January 28, 2000, recorded February 3, 2000. For $1,881,630, the parcel "now known as Lot 8 Alexander Road": Lot 8 on the Re-Division Plan of February 20, 1987 (Plan Book 158 Plan 106), "770,006 +/- square feet or 17.67 acres", with the 40-foot utility right of way (Book 3568 Page 193); the grantor reserved drainage from its Lot 7 until the grantee filed a final plan. "For grantor's title see deed dated June 1, 1992 ... Book 5974, Page 050." MCI WorldCom built its data center on the lot in 2000-2001.
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| May 1, 2017 | Quitclaim | Verizon Business Network Services Inc., formerly MCI Network Services, Inc., formerly MCI WorldCom Network Services, Inc. | MCI Communications Services, Inc. | 2017: 41 Alexander Rd, Verizon to MCI Communications Services | 31084/287 |
Dated and recorded May 1, 2017 (10 pages). For $1, "the land located at 41 Alexander Road ... together with all buildings, structures and improvements located thereon"; "For Grantor's title, see Deed of Charlesbank Estates, Inc. ... dated January 28, 2000 ... Book 10653, Page 178." The first of two same-day transfers moving the data center into a separate company for its sale to Equinix.
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| May 1, 2017 | Quitclaim | MCI Communications Services, Inc. | Verizon Data Centers I LLC, a Delaware limited liability company | 2017: 41 Alexander Rd to Verizon Data Centers I LLC | 31085/1 |
Dated and recorded May 1, 2017 (5 pages). For $1, 41 Alexander Road "together with all buildings, structures and improvements"; "For Grantor's title, see Deed of Verizon Business Network Services Inc. ... dated May 1, 2017 ... Book 31084, Page 287." The company, later VDC I, LLC with Equinix's address, passed to Equinix with Verizon's data center portfolio in 2017; a memorandum of lease back to Verizon Business Network Services was recorded May 16, 2017 (Book 31120 Page 111).
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| December 2, 2022 | Release Deed | VDC I, LLC, of Redwood City, California | Equinix, LLC, of Redwood City, California | 2022: 41 Alexander Rd to Equinix, LLC | 37547/37 |
Recorded December 2, 2022 (9 pages). For $10, "WITHOUT COVENANTS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, the land with the improvements thereon" at "41-43 Alexander Road" (assessor parcel 65-83-4); "For title reference see deed recorded ... Book 31085, Page 1." Equinix, LLC is the owner of record today.
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| October 29, 2025 | Deed | Charlesbank Estates, Inc. | SI 19 Alexander Road LLC | 2025: 19 Alexander Rd (Lot 7) sold for $16,300,000 | 39623/65 |
Recorded October 29, 2025. For $16,300,000, the parcel "now known and numbered 19 Alexander Road", Lot 7 on the "Re-Division Plan of Land, Billerica, Mass., prepared for Antico Development Corporation dated February 20, 1987, by Ralph J. Bibbo" (Plan Book 158 Plan 106); "For Grantor's title, see deed from Anthony J. Antico dated June 1, 1992". The 6.12-acre lot has a warehouse built about 1988 (assessor parcel 65-83-8).
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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.
References
- Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Shawsheen Pines / Billerica-Wilmington Airport (charts, aerials, Wilmington Town Crier 2010, recollections)
- Wikipedia: Billerica-Wilmington Airport (coordinates)
- Tewksbury Historical Society: Tew-Mac Airport (Four Star Aviation, John Hanson and Frank Teed)
- Billerica assessor: parcel 65-83-11, Alexander Rd, 48.983 acres (the east part of the field)
- Billerica assessor: 19 Alexander Rd, parcel 65-83-8
- Billerica assessor: 41 Alexander Rd, parcel 65-83-4