Akeson Field
Akeson Field, also called Akeson Park and first named the John A. Akeson Playground, is the town playing field on the east bank of the Shawsheen River in Pinehurst, behind the office buildings at 780 Boston Road, next to the site of Pinehurst Park. It covers about 200,000 square feet, a little over four and a half acres, and has soccer fields and a canoe launch on the river.
The land was part of a farm of about fifty-eight acres between the road from Billerica to Wilmington, now Cook Street, and the Shawsheen River, with a second lot of thirty acres and a barn across the road. George Bacon sold it to Sylvester E. Beard in 1870. Beard left it to his widow, Maria, who deeded it in 1918 to their son Sylvester P. Beard, known as Percy. Percy Beard mortgaged the farm in 1922 to Albert H. Jones. John A. Akeson of Woburn, who had become the holder of that mortgage by assignment, foreclosed and bought the farm himself at auction on May 13, 1939, for $1,975. A 1947 town meeting article describes his land along the river as land "of one John A. Akeson (formerly of one Beard)".
Pinehurst residents had wanted a playground since 1946, when the annual town meeting set aside $5,000 for one. At the March 1951 meeting a motion to buy or take by eminent domain "land adjacent to river now owned by Mr. Akeson", with rights of way from Cook Street and Boston Road, was lost. Akeson then offered the land as a gift. On November 24, 1951 a special town meeting voted unanimously to accept 200,000 square feet "bordering on the Shawsheen River in Pinehurst for playground purposes", for one dollar, "on condition that any playground located thereon shall be called the 'John A. Akeson Playground'", and turned the $5,000 over to the Pinehurst Playground Committee. The same meeting rezoned about twelve and three quarter acres of his land on Cook Street for industry. Akeson signed the deed on February 29, 1952, and it was recorded on May 6, 1952 with a plan by James B. Monahan, "Plan of John A. Akeson Playground and Right of Way" (December 1951). The lot ran about 400 feet along the river and was bounded on the south by land of the Pinehurst Amusement Association. In May 1952 the Pinehurst Amusement Center gave the town a right of way over a thirty-foot strip of its land for access to the playground, and the 1953 town meeting accepted the gift. The Selectmen credited "the generosity of Mr. Akeson" for obtaining "a large tract of land ... at no cost to the Town".
The committee spent about $3,900 preparing the grounds in 1953, and by 1954 the playground had its own board of trustees. In 1956 the town appropriated $4,000 for equipment, maintenance and an instructor, and a field house was built for $2,000. From 1962 the Recreation Commission's Twi-League, a baseball league for young men out of high school, played its games at the Akeson and Kohlrausch playgrounds, and in 1968 the town meeting debated money to rebuild the regulation baseball diamond at "Akeson Field". By the 1970s the playground was known by that name. The Recreation Commission said in 1975 that it "should be upgraded", the town engineers drew plans for new recreation facilities there in 1979, and the Highway Department graded the "Akeson Field Driveway" in 1980.
The field later became a soccer ground. In 1985 the Soccer Committee, which had agreed to share the cost of fencing the field, asked the town to pay the whole cost after vandalism had used up its money. In 2000 the town built a canoe put-in at Akeson Park, giving public access to the Shawsheen River; paddling guides list it as a carry-in launch at river mile 6.7. In 2010 the town meeting authorized the town to lease part of the field (Assessors Plate 90, Parcel 195) for a telecommunications tower, 127 to 38, after members questioned siting a tower on ground used by youth sports. The town lists Akeson Park with the Shaloo Meadow Town Forest and Shawsheen Woods among its conservation and recreation lands, with two soccer fields reached through the office parking lot at 780 Boston Road.
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: C. O. Reed sells Benjamin F. Beard an interest in the Goodwin estate | 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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| May 6, 1952 | Deed | John A. Akeson of Woburn | Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica | 1952: Akeson gives the town 200,000 sq ft for the John A. Akeson Playground | 1194/430 |
Gift, for one dollar, of 200,000 square feet "bordering on the Shawsheen River in Pinehurst", about 400 feet along the river and bounded southerly by land of the Pinehurst Amusement Association, for playground purposes as voted by the special town meeting of Nov. 24, 1951, "on condition that any playground located thereon shall be called the 'John A. Akeson Playground'", with "Plan of John A. Akeson Playground and Right of Way", James B. Monahan, December 1951 (not found in the plan books). Signed Feb. 29, 1952; part of the land Akeson bought at his foreclosure sale (Book 929, Page 162).
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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 remaining 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 | 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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| 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 | 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 given to the town to correct the Akeson Field line | 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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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
- Annual Reports 1951-1954 (1950-1954 volume): March 1951 playground motion; Nov. 24, 1951 special town meeting accepting the Akeson gift; 1953 right of way; trustees
- Annual Reports 1955-1959: Akeson Playground appropriations, committee and field house, 1955-1956
- Annual Reports 1960-1964: Twi-League baseball at the Akeson and Kohlrausch playgrounds, 1962-1964
- Annual Report 1968: town meeting debate on rebuilding the baseball field at Akeson Field
- Annual Report 1980: Highway Department grades the Akeson Field driveway
- Annual Report 1985: town meeting on fencing Akeson Field for soccer
- Annual Report 1998: spring town meeting accepts Lot B of Shawsheen Woods to correct the Akeson Field line
- Annual Report 2000: canoe put-in built at Akeson Park on the Shawsheen River
- Annual Report 2010: Oct. 2009 fall town meeting authorizes a telecommunications lease at Akeson Field
- Town of Billerica: Akeson Park, Shaloo Meadow and Shawsheen Woods brochure (2025)
- Shawsheen River Watershed Association: put-ins, Akeson Field launch at river mile 6.7
- Massachusetts Youth Soccer: Akeson Field, Pinehurst Park, 780 Boston Road