Amherst Street

Amherst Street is the northernmost street of Berwick, in North Billerica, leaving Boston Road at the Chelmsford and Lowell line and running east, parallel to the line, to Bristol Street. It was laid out in June 1896 by Walter C. Stevens, civil engineer of Melrose, on the "Plan of Building Lots at Berwick situated in Billerica, Mass., between Lowell and North Billerica, belonging to Wood, Harmon Real Estate Ass'n," the speculative lot development of Wood, Harmon & Co. of Lowell, recorded July 2, 1896 (Plan Book 12, Plan 10). On the plan "Amherst St." runs from the "Billerica Road" just inside the town line, with lots 13 to 21 on its south side. The plan gives no reason for the name; Amherst, like Berwick, Bristol, Casco, Clifton and Winthrop, is a New England town name (Amherst, Massachusetts and Amherst, New Hampshire), and no record ties it to a Billerica person or family.

Amherst Street was slow to be built on. It is not in the street lists of 1897 and 1899 or in the directories of 1901 and 1912, and first appears in the 1916 directory as "Amherst from Boston rd at Chelmsford line to Bristol." The town accepted Amherst Street and Bristol Street at the annual meeting of February 9, 1946, under Article 53, and in 1974 Amherst Street was hot topped with Type I bituminous concrete together with the other Berwick streets.

Amherst Street was not on the official map of 1831 and was not among the roads accepted in 2016. Its name has not changed since 1896.

References

1. Wikipedia: William E. Harmon and Wood, Harmon and Co., the real estate firm that laid out Berwick in 1896
2. Annual Report 1945: warrant Article 53, to accept Amherst and Bristol Streets
3. Annual Report 1945: Article 53, to accept Amherst Street and Bristol Street, moved and so voted
4. Annual Report 1956: list of accepted streets, Amherst St. 2-9-46
5. Annual Report 1974: Casco, Clifton, Vasa, Amherst and Bristol Streets hot topped with Type I bituminous concrete