Shawsheen Woods
Shawsheen Woods is a town conservation area of about eight and a half acres on the east bank of the Shawsheen River in Pinehurst, reached by a few parking spaces at the end of Bankside Drive off Cook Street. It is a strip of woods and flood plain between the houses of the Shawsheen Woods subdivision and the river, just north of Akeson Field, and with the Shaloo Meadow Town Forest across the river it makes up about thirty acres of conservation land that the town manages to protect the flood plain, wetlands and wildlife habitat, with paths for walking, fishing and nature study.
The land was the river side of an old farm on the road from Billerica to Wilmington, now Cook Street. In 1801 Josiah Richardson sold Thomas Goodwin about a hundred acres running down to the Shawsheen and "northerly as the river runs"; after Reuel Goodwin died in 1846 his heirs sold their shares of "about fifty eight acres of land with the buildings thereon", bounded by the road, William Gleason's land and the river, to Benjamin F. Beard in 1848. George Bacon, who held Beard's mortgage, sold the farm to Sylvester E. Beard in 1870; his son Sylvester P. (Percy) Beard lost it by foreclosure in 1939 to John A. Akeson of Woburn, who gave the town the playground at its south end in 1952. In 1960 Akeson put his lands in a trust, and in April 1971 his trustees sold the Cook Street parcel, 57.68 acres "Generally Northwesterly by the Shawsheen River", with land in Burlington and Tewksbury, to Warren E. McCarthy of Winchester. It passed through the McCarthy family's WEM trusts to William E. McCarthy in 1981 and to his Cook Street Realty Trust in 1995, by then 44.3 acres running "along the edge of Shawsheen River two thousand five hundred (2,500) feet".
In 1996 Raymond Engineering Service of Billerica drew the "Definitive Subdivision, Shawsheen Woods" for the McCarthys, with Bankside Drive, Haven Circle and Griffin Circle and later Shanpauly Drive and Neighborly Way, and set aside the land along the river as Parcel A. William A. Cooke, Raymond J. Cooke and Robert Murphy, as the Shawsheen Woods Realty Trust, bought the lots and Parcel A in December 1996 and July 1997 for $1,950,000 in all, and the first houses were sold in 1997; the town engineers inspected the subdivision from 1996 to 2000. The trustees gave Parcel A, 368,444 square feet, to the town for one dollar by a deed signed in February 1998 and recorded on September 29, 1999, "under the provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 40, Section 8C ... and of Article 49 of the Massachusetts Constitution to be managed and controlled by the Conservation Commission of the Town of Billerica for the promotion and development of the natural resources and for the protection of the watershed resources of said Town". A smaller lot of the same subdivision, Lot B, went to the town in 1998 to straighten the line of Akeson Field.
The conservation land is Assessors Map 81, Parcel 199-16, listed at 0 Bankside Drive. In 2023 the Conservation Commission issued an order of conditions to the Department of Public Works for test borings on the parcel for a sewer project (Contract 37), the first recorded work on the land since the gift. The town's 2025 brochure groups Shawsheen Woods with Akeson Park and the Shaloo Meadow Town Forest, and its open space plan counts them among the three miles of protected Shawsheen riverbank in Billerica.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1801 | Deed | Josiah Richardson of Billerica, yeoman (Lydia Richardson joining) | Thomas Goodwin of Billerica, yeoman | 1801: Josiah Richardson sells Thomas Goodwin the river farm, about 100 acres | 214/264 (South) |
For $2,500, "one tract containing about one hundred acres more or less with the buildings thereon standing", beginning at the southwest corner by Goodwin's own land, easterly by William Gleason Jr. and Ebenezer Richardson Jr. "to a road leading to Shawsheen river", by Joseph Danforth, by a brook by Josiah Crosby, "by said brook to said river, thence northerly as the river runs to land formerly belonging to Ebenezer Richardson", then westerly to the road "a few rods west of the dwelling house" and across the road again back to Goodwin's land; also "the Grimes lot", twelve acres, by Jonathan Stickney and Josiah Hill. Dated Jan. 13, 1801 (the index gives 1804), recorded only in 1815. Billerica town book 11, pages 462-463. Probably the river farm later held by Reuel Goodwin's heirs (same river, road and Gleason bounds); Josiah Richardson's own title is the gap before 1801.
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| 1846 | Administration | Estate of Reuel Goodwin of Billerica, yeoman (died intestate 1846) | His heirs: Benjamin F. Beard, Daniel Richardson, Reuel Goodwin and Caroline Goodwin, among others | 1846: estate of Reuel Goodwin; the farm appraised at $2,400 | Probate #32868 |
On Sept. 14, 1846 the heirs at law Benjamin F. Beard, Daniel Richardson, Reuel Goodwin and Caroline Goodwin asked the court to appoint Marshall Preston of Billerica administrator; he was appointed Oct. 13, 1846 with Samuel Foster and Dudley Foster as sureties. Abner Shed of Burlington, Francis Carter and William S. Gleason appraised the estate: "The Real Estate consisting of the farm with the Buildings thereon was appraised at $2400." Commissioners later set off Caroline Goodwin's share, including the dwelling house, "her legacy out of her father's estate". Pages 2-8 of 43 read.
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| March 8, 1847 | Deed | Charles O. Reed of Nashua, N.H., cordwainer | Benjamin F. Beard of Billerica, yeoman | 1847: Charles O. Reed releases his grandfather Goodwin's estate to Benjamin F. Beard | 499/464 (South) |
For $50, a release of "all my right title interest and estate of my late Grand Father Reuel Goodwin of Billerica deceased". Dated and acknowledged March 8, 1847, witnesses Samuel Shed and Abner Shed. Billerica town book 18, page 265.
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| March 23, 1848 | Deed | Daniel Richardson of Woburn, blacksmith (Louisa G. Richardson releasing dower) | Benjamin F. Beard of Billerica, yeoman | 1848: Daniel Richardson sells Benjamin F. Beard 7/22 of the 58-acre farm | 528/88 (South) |
For $600, "meaning to convey the proportion of seven to twenty two parts" of "about fifty eight acres of land with the buildings thereon", "bounded South Easterly by the Road leading from said Billerica to Wilmington, South Westerly by land of William Gleason, North Westerly by Shawsheen River, and North Easterly by land of Caroline Goodwin"; also about thirty acres with the barn opposite, by Wm. Gleason, Joshua Bennett and the heirs of Ruel Goodwin, and a two-acre lot at the county road from Boston to Lowell; "saving to the aforesaid Caroline Goodwin all the right and interest in and to the dwelling and land under and adjoining the same ... being a part of her legacy out of her father's estate as set off by Commissioners". Dated Feb. 26, 1848. Billerica town book 20, pages 23-24.
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| March 23, 1848 | Guardian's Deed | Daniel Richardson of Woburn, guardian of his minor children Barbara Ann Richardson and Melvina Richardson | Benjamin F. Beard of Billerica, yeoman | 1848: guardian's auction of the Richardson children's shares to Benjamin F. Beard | 528/89 (South) |
Licensed by the Probate Court at Concord on Feb. 8, 1848, after notice in the Woburn "Guide Post", Richardson sold the minors' shares of the same Goodwin farm at public auction on March 10, 1848 to Benjamin F. Beard, the highest bidder, for $500. Billerica town book 20, pages 25-26.
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| April 15, 1870 | Quitclaim Deed | George Bacon of Billerica (Sophronia G. Bacon releasing dower and homestead) | Sylvester E. Beard of Billerica | 1870: George Bacon to Sylvester E. Beard, the 58-acre farm, $600 | 72/591 |
For $600, three tracts: "one tract of land with the buildings thereon containing about fifty eight acres, bounded Southerly or Southeasterly by the road leading from said Billerica to Wilmington, Southwesterly by land of Wm. S. Gleason, Northwesterly by Shawsheen river and Northeasterly by land of Caroline Goodwin"; one of about thirty acres "with a barn thereon" opposite, by Wm. S. Gleason, Joshua Bennett and the heirs of Ruel Goodwin; and about two acres at the county road from Boston to Lowell. "Being premises conveyed by Benjamin F. Beard to Daniel Richardson by mortgage deed dated March 10th 1848 and by said Richardson assigned to said Bacon, and also the rights of Caroline Goodwin as mentioned in a bond of said Bacon to said Beard dated April 14, 1868." Dated April 8, 1870.
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| April 15, 1870 | Mortgage | Sylvester E. Beard of Billerica, yeoman | George Bacon of Billerica | 1870: Sylvester E. Beard mortgages the farm back to Bacon | 72/593 |
Mortgage for $500 of the same three tracts, "Being the same premises this day conveyed to me by said Bacon". Margin notes an assignment (Book 260, Page 578) and a discharge (Book 329). Cleared from Akeson's title by the Land Court in 1960.
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| 1918 | Deed | Maria Beard of Billerica, widow of Sylvester E. Beard | Her son Sylvester P. (Percy) Beard | 1918: Maria Beard to her son Sylvester P. (Percy) Beard | 618/27 |
The Beard farm on the road from Billerica to Wilmington (Cook Street), about fifty-eight acres between the road and the Shawsheen River and the thirty-acre lot with the barn across the road. Sylvester E. Beard's estate falls after 1871, beyond the online probate index (see the HELD note).
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| 1922 | Mortgage | Sylvester P. Beard of Billerica | Albert H. Jones | 1922: Percy Beard mortgages the farm to Albert H. Jones | 656/510 |
Mortgage of the Beard farm on Cook Street, later assigned to John A. Akeson of Woburn and foreclosed by him in 1939.
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| 1939 | Foreclosure Deed | John A. Akeson of Woburn, assignee of the Jones mortgage | John A. Akeson of Woburn | 1939: John A. Akeson forecloses and buys the farm for $1,975 | 929/162 |
Foreclosure of Sylvester P. Beard's 1922 mortgage: the farm was sold at public auction on the premises on May 13, 1939 and bought by Akeson himself for $1,975, the highest bid. A 1947 town meeting article calls his river land land "of one John A. Akeson (formerly of one Beard)".
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| April 28, 1960 | Final Decree | Land Court, John A. Akeson vs. George Bacon (Case No. 30654 Misc.) | John A. Akeson | 1960: Land Court clears the 1870 Bacon mortgage from Akeson's title | 1473/394 |
Final decree on Akeson's petition concerning the 1870 mortgage of Sylvester E. Beard to George Bacon (Book 72, Page 593), with a plan "Cook St., John A. Akeson, June 16, 1959"; recorded April 28, 1960 (indexed 1960 under Akeson, Book 1473, Page 394, and a related decree at Book 1482, Page 15).
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| 1960 | Deed | Gladys M. Carey | John A. Akeson, Trustee | 1960: Akeson's land put in trust (Carey to Akeson, Trustee) | 1501/552 |
Dated Nov. 1, 1960. Known from the 1971 trustees' deed, which gives it as the title to the Billerica parcels ("fourteenth item") and to several Tewksbury parcels; Carey held as a conduit for Akeson, who had put his lands in a trust dated March 18, 1960 (registered as Document 33612). Not found online at this book and page; the deed from Akeson to Carey was not found.
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| April 30, 1971 | Trustees' Deed | Evelyn Frances Akeson, Herbert K. Reynolds, Warren E. McCarthy and State Street Bank and Trust Company, Trustees under indenture of John A. Akeson; and Evelyn Frances Akeson individually | Warren E. McCarthy of Winchester | 1971: Akeson trustees sell the Cook Street land, 57.68 acres, to Warren E. McCarthy | 1957/30 |
Under a Probate Court decree of Nov. 5, 1970 (Docket 462983; see also Estate of John A. Akeson, Middlesex Probate No. 386142), thirteen parcels in Billerica, Burlington and Tewksbury sold for $330,000. Parcel One, "Plan of Land in Billerica, Mass." by Emmons, Fleming & Bienvenu, June 1967 (Plan Book 112, Plan 49): "Southerly and Southeasterly by Cook Street, 1,237.87 feet; Southwesterly by land pertaining to Land Court Case 20869, 623.18 feet; Northwesterly 400 feet; Southwesterly 500 feet more or less, the last two lines being by land now or formerly of the Town of Billerica; Generally Northwesterly by the Shawsheen River; and Northeasterly by land now or formerly of Walter C. McBeth", 57.68 acres, subject to the 1931 taking of Cook Street; Parcel Two, 25.04 acres across Cook Street. Signed in April 1971.
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| April 30, 1971 | Deed | Warren E. McCarthy | Eugene W. McCarthy, Maurice J. McCarthy and William E. McCarthy, Trustees of WEM Realty Trust | 1971: Warren E. McCarthy to WEM Realty Trust | 1957/39 |
For consideration paid, "seven certain parcels of land with the buildings thereon situate in Billerica, Burlington and Tewksbury", Parcel One being the Billerica premises "shown as Parcel One on a plan entitled 'Plan of Land in Billerica, Mass.' by Emmons, Fleming & Bienvenu, Inc., ... June, 1967 ... containing ... 57.68 acres more or less", Parcel Two 25.04 acres. To the trustees of WEM Realty Trust under a declaration dated April 28, 1971. A mortgage to State Street Bank and Trust Company et al., trustees, followed (Book 1957, Page 59).
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| December 30, 1971 | Quitclaim Deed | Eugene W., Maurice J. and William E. McCarthy, Trustees of WEM Realty Trust | The same, Trustees of WEM Trust (241 Mystic Avenue, Medford) | 1971: WEM Realty Trust to WEM Trust | 1993/282 |
For nominal consideration, seven parcels in Billerica, Burlington and Tewksbury, among them "Parcel One ... Plan Book 112, Plan 49, and containing according to said plan 57.68 acres" and Parcel Two, 25.04 acres, subject to the encumbrances in the Akeson trustees' deed (Book 1957, Page 30). Dated Dec. 1971.
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| June 17, 1981 | Trustees' Deed | Eugene W., Maurice J. and William E. McCarthy, Trustees and beneficiaries of WEM Trust | William E. McCarthy of Lynnfield | 1981: WEM Trust to William E. McCarthy | 2484/92 |
For nominal consideration, Parcel One (57.68 acres, Plan Book 112, Plan 49) and Parcel Two (25.04 acres, Plan Book 112, Plan 50). Dated June 12, 1981.
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| October 16, 1995 | Quitclaim Deed | William E. McCarthy of Lynnfield | William E. McCarthy and Ann L. McCarthy, Trustees of Cook Street Realty Trust | 1995: William E. McCarthy to Cook Street Realty Trust, 44.3 acres along the river | 7698/51 |
For $10, "PARCEL ONE" on Plan Book 112, Plan 49, now "44.3 acres, more or less" (see also Plan Book 148, Plan 47 and Plan Book 158, Plan 70), running from the northeast corner of Lot A 1,705 feet, by Cook Street and a series of courses, and "along the edge of Shawsheen River two thousand five hundred (2,500) feet, more or less to the point of beginning"; and Parcel Two less Lots 4 and 5 sold to John E. Farmer in 1993. Title: Book 2484, Page 92.
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| December 23, 1996 | Quitclaim Deed | William E. McCarthy and Ann L. McCarthy, Trustees of Cook Street Realty Trust | William Cooke, Raymond Cooke and Robert Murphy, Trustees of Shawsheen Woods Realty Trust | 1996: Cook Street Realty Trust to Shawsheen Woods Realty Trust, lots 1-20, $1,000,000 | 8363/2 |
For $1,000,000, "the premises known as 29 Cook Street": Lots 1 through 20 on "Definitive Subdivision, Shawsheen Woods, Billerica, Mass." dated April 1, 1996, Raymond Engineering Services (Plan Book 192, Plan 108), with the fee in Bankside Drive, Haven Circle and Griffin Circle. Title: Book 7698, Page 51. Dated Dec. 23, 1996.
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| July 2, 1997 | Quitclaim Deed | William E. McCarthy and Ann L. McCarthy, Trustees of Cook Street Realty Trust | William Cooke, Raymond Cooke and Robert Murphy, Trustees of Shawsheen Woods Realty Trust | 1997: Cook Street Realty Trust to Shawsheen Woods Realty Trust, lots 21-39 and Parcel A, $950,000 | 8655/7 |
For $950,000, the rest of "the premises known as 29 Cook Street": "Lots 21 through 39 as shown on a plan of land entitled 'DEFINITIVE SUBDIVSION, SHAWSHEEN WOODS, BILLERICA, MASS.' dated April 1, 1996" (Plan Book 192, Plan 108). "Also conveyed hereunder is Parcel A (8.45 Acres) as shown on said plan", with the fee in Bankside Drive, Haven Circle, Griffin Circle, Shanpauly Drive and Neighborly Way. Title: Book 7698, Page 51, and a confirmatory deed of Dec. 23, 1996 (Book 8362, Page 298). Dated July 2, 1997.
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| December 31, 1998 | Quitclaim Deed | William A. Cooke, Robert Murphy and Raymond J. Cooke, Trustees of Shawsheen Woods Realty Trust | Town of Billerica | 1998: Lot B of the subdivision given to the town for Akeson Field | 9836/219 |
For one dollar, Lot B on "Modified Definitive Subdivision Plan, Shawsheen Woods Shanpauly Dr./Neighborly Way, Billerica, Mass., April 1, 1996, Raymond Engineering Service" (Plan Book 196, Plan 25). The May 1998 town meeting accepted it as "a parcel of land for recreational purposes ... adjacent to Akerson Field"; the Town Planner explained that "a small section of land previously thought to belong to the Akerson Field was in fact on someone else's property". Signed December 1997. Title: Book 8655, Page 7.
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| September 29, 1999 | Quitclaim Deed | William A. Cooke, Robert Murphy and Raymond J. Cooke, Trustees of Shawsheen Woods Realty Trust | Town of Billerica | 1999: Parcel A, 368,444 sq ft, given to the town for conservation | 10430/55 |
For one dollar, "the land ... containing 368,444 square feet of land, more or less, according to a plan entitled, 'Definitive Subdivision Shawsheen Woods, Billerica, Mass., April 1, 1996, Raymond Engineering Service, 574 Boston Road, Billerica, Mass.' ... Book of Plans 192, Plan 108. Said parcel of land is shown on said plan as Parcel A". "Said real property is conveyed to said Town under the provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 40, Section 8C ... and of Article 49 of the Massachusetts Constitution to be managed and controlled by the Conservation Commission of the Town of Billerica for the promotion and development of the natural resources and for the protection of the watershed resources of said Town." The deed cites the trust's first deed (Book 8363, Page 2), but Parcel A came by the deed of July 2, 1997 (Book 8655, Page 7). Acknowledged February 1998; recorded Sept. 29, 1999.
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| January 2, 2024 | Order of Conditions | Billerica Conservation Commission (applicant Kelley Conway, Town of Billerica Department of Public Works) | Town of Billerica | 2024: order of conditions for DPW sewer borings on the parcel | 38263/213 |
MassDEP File 109-1544, WPA Form 5 Order of Conditions under the Wetlands Protection Act for "NOI for boring, DPW, Sewer Contract 37" (Beta Group plans, Sept. 27, 2023) at 0 Bankside Drive, Assessors Map 81, Parcel 199-16, the land of the deed at Book 10430, Page 55; work within bordering vegetated wetland (498 sq ft) and bordering land subject to flooding (2,985 sq ft) approved with conditions.
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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
- Town of Billerica: Akeson Park, Shaloo Meadow and Shawsheen Woods brochure (2025): parking at the end of Bankside Drive; 30 acres with Shaloo Meadow
- Town of Billerica Open Space and Recreation Plan (2025): Shaloo Meadow, Shawsheen Woods and Akeson Fields on the protected Shawsheen riverbank
- Annual Report 1998: Lot B of Shawsheen Woods accepted; subdivision inspections
- Annual Report 1996: Engineering Division inspects the Shawsheen Woods subdivision