Backer's Greenhouses
Backer's Greenhouses
| Address | 508 Boston Rd |
| Built | 1906 |
| Moved | 1971 |
| New Address | 508 Boston Rd |
| Demolished | 1971 |
| Owners | Clarence A. Backer (1899 - 1925) |
| Tenants | |
| Billerica Greenhouse (1948 - 1967) | |
| Other Lot Structures | Billerica Greenhouse (1952 - 1974) |
Backer's Greenhouses were two long glass houses on the east side of Boston Road, about half a mile southeast of the meeting house, at what is now 508 Boston Road. For more than seventy years they were worked by a succession of florists, the last of them as the Billerica Greenhouses.
On Jan. 10, 1899, Nathaniel P. Jones sold Grace Lillian Backer, wife of Clarence A. Backer of Melrose, "two parcels of land with the buildings" adjoining each other on the road to Boston, about three acres "with the buildings thereon" and four and a half acres "with a barn thereon". Backer was a summer resident in 1901 and a florist by 1912. The 1906 atlas labels the place "Backer & Co.", and the directories of 1916 and 1919 list men working as florists "at Backer's Greenhouses". The 1925 directory still lists "Backer & Co, Boston rd n Tufts' lane".
Backer died in 1925. On Feb. 9, 1928 his widow sold the greenhouse lot, 39,462 square feet with 141.24 feet on the road, "with the green houses and other buildings thereon" to the florist Harlie G. Bohannon and his wife Florence, together with "all business fixtures, boilers, piping, benches, boxes, plants and other personal property" used "in connection with the Florist business". For ten years the lot could be used for no business but "the business commonly known as the Florist business", to protect the land she kept around it. The survey made for the sale (Plan Book 51, Plan 62) draws the two long "Hot House" buildings side by side, running back from the road, with a boiler house and a shed. The Bohannons added a seventy-five foot strip to the north from the Angells that March. The 1931 directory lists both Backer & Co., under Mrs. Backer, and Bohannon as florists, and Charles E. Moore's house on the lane across the road as "opp greenhouses".
On May 1, 1948 the Bohannons sold the greenhouses to Oscar A. Ericson and Charles W. Gridelli of Woburn, who ran them as the Billerica Green Houses. The partners divided a house lot at the northwest corner between their families through William J. Blake the same day. The Billerica Green Houses advertised in the Howe High School yearbooks from 1952 to 1958, and the 1957 directory gives their address as 508 Boston Road. Ericson died in 1961, and in 1962 his widow, as executrix, and Gridelli, as surviving partner, conveyed the business land "and good will" to Gridelli and his wife. They sold it in 1967, fixtures and good will included, to private owners, who in June 1970 sold it to Unified Land Development Corporation, the developer of Bear Hill Estates, for $85,000, keeping the right to take out "all fixtures, heating equipment including boiler, burner, piping". The deed by which Unified sold the land to Woburn Five Cents Savings Bank in 1971 names no buildings, so the greenhouses were gone by then.
The bank added the seventy-five foot front lot in 1972 and built the present bank building on the site about 1975. After the bank failed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as its liquidating agent, sold the property, 1.338 acres, to Sterling Bank in 1992. It was sold in 2000 to S-BNK Billerica LLC and in 2015 to ARAK II LLC.
References
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| March 26, 1901 | Quitclaim | Nathaniel P. Jones of Billerica (Anna A. Jones releasing dower and homestead) | Grace Lillian Backer, wife of Clarence A. Backer, of Melrose | 1899: Nathaniel P. Jones to Grace Lillian Backer, the Backer home place with house and barn | 328/576 |
"Two parcels of land with the buildings situated in Billerica ... adjoining each other on the road leading to Boston": first, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon situated ... about one-half (1/2) mile southeasterly of the Meeting House on the road leading to Boston, containing about three (3) acres", bounded west by the highway, south by "land formerly of George P. Elliott", east by "land formerly of Henry Crosby" and north by "land formerly of Sylvester S. Hill"; second, "the tract of land adjoining the above with a barn thereon containing about four and one-half (4 1/2) acres", bounded north by "land now or formerly of one Rogers", east by Sarah Rogers and the heirs of Barnard Tufts "to the Tufts Road", south on that road and west by William G. Alley and Blanchard. Title from William H. Anderson and from Frank L. and Mary E. Crosby, both April 25, 1898 (Book 296, Pages 167 and 168). Dated Jan. 10, 1899; recorded March 26, 1901. The Backer home place of the 1906 atlas (Backer & Co.), south of the Rogers and Colby land; it is not among the four parcels sold by Backer's executors in 1926.
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| October 21, 1908 | Warranty Deed | Arthur J. Larratt of Billerica (Katharine Larratt releasing dower and homestead) | Clarence A. Backer of Melrose | 1908: Clarence A. Backer buys the 16-acre Colby place | 425/445 |
For one dollar and other consideration, "a certain lot of land with the buildings thereon containing sixteen acres, more or less, situated in that part of said Billerica known as Billerica Centre", with the bounds of the Jones deed (Jacob P. Brown, the Town standpipe lot, "land formerly of one Rogers, supposed to be now of one Davis", "land formerly of Sewall Worthley, supposed to be now of one Backer", Barnard Tufts, Blaney Abbott). "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Albert H. Jones by deed dated September 25th, 1908" (Book 424, Page 238), subject to a $3,600 mortgage to Jones of the same date which Backer assumes. Dated Oct. 17, 1908 at Lowell.
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| January 24, 1917 | Quitclaim | Bertram S. Ward of Billerica (Susie L. Ward releasing dower) | Clarence A. Backer of Billerica | 1917: Clarence A. Backer buys the Cheever place | 567/16 |
"For consideration paid", "A certain lot of land with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica on the easterly side of the County Road, now called Main Street", with the same bounds as Fuller's deed (the 1853 Cheever to Josiah Richardson land, the heirs of Jonathan Bowers, David Abbott), "Containing thirteen acres, more or less. Being the same premises to me conveyed by Walter H. Fuller by deed dated January 15, 1917," subject to Fuller's three Merrimack River Savings Bank mortgages. Dated Jan. 23, 1917. Ward was a straw: the Fuller deed was recorded the day after this one.
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| June 4, 1926 | Executor's Deed | Thomas W. Fernald and Reginald B. Fonda, executors of the will of Clarence A. Backer, late of Damascus, Virginia, formerly of Billerica | Isabel Porter, wife of Fred A. Porter, of Lincoln | 1926: Backer's executors sell his four Boston Road parcels to Isabel Porter | 736/589 |
By the power of sale in Backer's will, for $16,000, four parcels "with the buildings thereon": (1) registered land on Boston Road (249.59 feet) north of Clara E. Sexton's land (Certificate 864, plan of July 1915), less Lot 3 on Plan 6093-B sold to Jennie M. Kinsman in 1924; (2) Lot B on Land Court Plan 3956-A, less Lots 1 and 3 on Plan 6093-B, subject to Backer's 1913 mortgage to Clara E. Sexton; (3) "A certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon on the easterly side of the County Road now called Main Street", beginning at the southwest corner of "land conveyed by Nathaniel Cheever to Josiah Richardson by deed dated July 28th, 1853" (Middlesex South Book 663, Page 64), south on the street to "the heirs of Jonathan Bowers", east to David Abbott, north and west by Abbott back to the Richardson land, south 4 rods and west 40 rods by it, "thirteen (13) acres more or less", conveyed to Backer by Bertram S. Ward, Jan. 23, 1917 (Book 567, Page 16), subject to a $2,500 Merrimack River Savings Bank mortgage; (4) "A certain lot of land with the buildings thereon containing sixteen (16) acres", from Jacob P. Brown's land on the east side of Boston Road south to the Town's standpipe lot, around it, to a wall "at land formerly of one Rogers, supposed to be now of one Davis", south to "land formerly of Sewall Worthley, now of one Backer", to "land formerly of Barnard Tufts", east to "land formerly of Blaney Abbott" and north to Brown. Dated April 10, 1926.
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| February 17, 1928 | Deed | Grace Lillian Backer, widow, of Billerica | Harlie G. Bohannon and Florence B. Bohannon of Billerica, tenants by the entirety | Backer widow sells the greenhouses to the Bohannons | 759/509 |
Signed Feb. 9, 1928, quitclaim. "The land in said Billerica, with the green houses and other buildings thereon," as shown on the January 1928 plan by John T. Brown (Plan Book 51, Plan 62): from a bound on the easterly side of Boston Road 75 feet south of A. E. Angell, east by the wall, Bohannon and Porter 272 feet, then by other land of the grantor 80.73, 17.65 and 59.57 feet, west 281.39 feet back to the road and 141.24 feet along it, "containing 39,462 square feet." "Being part of the premises conveyed to the grantor by Nathaniel P. Jones by deed dated January 10, 1899 ... Book 328, Page 576." For ten years the land was to be used for no business "other than the business commonly known as the Florist business," for the benefit of her adjacent land, and she also sold "all business fixtures, boilers, piping, benches, boxes, plants and other personal property now upon the premises ... used thereon in connection with the Florist business."
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| February 17, 1928 | Mortgage | Harlie G. Bohannon and Florence B. Bohannon | Grace Lillian Backer of Billerica | Bohannon purchase mortgage | 759/510 |
Recorded with the deed: $6,500 in one year at six percent, on the same land "with the green houses and other buildings thereon" (Plan Book 51, Plan 62).
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| March 31, 1928 | Deed | Arthur Elmer Angell and Hannah Belle Angell | Harlie G. Bohannon and his wife | Angell's south 75 feet added to the greenhouse lot | 761/83 |
"A certain lot of land" on the easterly side of Boston Road, 75 feet on the road and about 253 feet deep, 19,027 square feet, between the grantees' land on the south and "land of the grantors" on the north, F. A. Porter on the east, "Being part of the premises to us conveyed by Eliza A. Davis ... Book 655, Page 482" The Angells kept the north part with the house, which stood until about 1959; the land became part of the mall site assembled in 1970.
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| December 3, 1934 | Mortgagee's Deed | James Shannon, Robert J. Shannon, Herbert F. Shannon and James W. Shannon of Woburn, mortgagees of Isabel Porter | James Shannon, Robert J. Shannon, Herbert F. Shannon and James W. Shannon | 1934: Shannon foreclosure of the Backer land | 853/480 |
Foreclosure under the mortgage from Isabel Porter dated June 5, 1926 (Book 736, Page 592; document 6870 on Certificate 3085): after notice in the Billerica News on Nov. 1, 8 and 15, 1934, the premises were sold at auction "on the premises" on Nov. 23, 1934 for $5,000 to the mortgagees themselves. The deed repeats the four parcels of the 1926 Backer estate deed: the registered land north of Clara E. Sexton, Lot B on Plan 3956-A, the 13-acre parcel "on the easterly side of the County Road now called Main Street" south of the land "conveyed by Nathaniel Cheever to Josiah Richardson" in 1853, and the 16 acres from Jacob P. Brown's land south to the Town standpipe, Rogers (now Davis), Sewall Worthley, Barnard Tufts and Blaney Abbott, "Said four parcels being the same premises conveyed to Isabel Porter by deed of Estate of Clarence A. Backer dated April 10, 1926." Affidavit: $17,720 due on the $15,000 mortgage.
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| May 4, 1948 | Quitclaim | Harlie G. Bohannon and Florence B. Bohannon of Billerica | Oscar A. Ericson and Charles W. Gridelli of Woburn | Bohannons sell to Ericson and Gridelli (Billerica Green Houses) | 1089/515 |
Signed May 1, 1948. The land "with the buildings" on the easterly side of Boston Road: from a bound at land of G. L. Backer east 281.31 feet, by Backer 59.57, 17.65 and 80.73 feet to F. A. Porter, by Porter 19.61 and 75 feet to A. E. Angell, west by Angell 255 feet to Boston Road and south along the road, as shown on Plan Book 51, Plan 62. "Being the same premises conveyed to us by two deeds, one from Grace Lilian Backer" (Book 759, Page 509) and one from Arthur Elmer Angell (Book 761, Page 83). The buyers ran the greenhouses as the Billerica Green Houses.
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| May 10, 1948 | Quitclaim | Oscar A. Ericson and Charles W. Gridelli of Woburn (Athelia M. Ericson and Mary L. Gridelli releasing) | William J. Blake of Woburn | front corner to Blake (straw) | 1089/568 |
Signed May 1, 1948, consideration under $100. The northwest corner of the greenhouse land, 150 feet along Angell and 75 feet on Boston Road, 11,250 square feet, "Being a portion of the premises conveyed to us by deed from Harlie G. and Florence B. Bohannon, dated May 1, 1948," on Plan Book 51, Plan 62. A straw deed: the same day Blake divided the lot between the two partners' families (Book 1089, Pages 569 and 570).
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| May 10, 1948 | Quitclaim | William J. Blake of Woburn | Charles W. Gridelli and Mary L. Gridelli of Woburn | east half of the corner to the Gridellis | 1089/569 |
Signed May 1, 1948, consideration under $100. The easterly half of the corner lot, 75 by 75 feet, 5,625 square feet, "Being the easterly one half of the premises conveyed to the grantor by deed from Ericson and Gridelli dated May 1, 1948," with an easement of way seven feet wide along the south side of the westerly half to Boston Road.
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| May 10, 1948 | Quitclaim | William J. Blake of Woburn | Oscar A. Ericson and Athelia M. Ericson of Woburn, tenants by the entirety | west half of the corner to the Ericsons | 1089/570 |
Signed May 1, 1948, consideration under $100. The westerly half of the corner lot, 75 feet on Boston Road at Angell and 75 feet deep, 5,625 square feet, "Being the westerly one half of the premises conveyed to me by deed from Ericson and Gridelli dated May 1, 1948," subject to the way granted to the Gridellis.
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| December 31, 1962 | Executor's Deed | Athelia M. Ericson, widow and executrix of Oscar A. Ericson (probate 372532), and Charles W. Gridelli, surviving partner | Charles W. Gridelli and Mary L. Gridelli of Billerica | Ericson estate and partner to Gridelli | 1565/538 |
Dated July 23, 1962. Under the power of sale in Oscar A. Ericson's will and as surviving partner under the partnership agreement of Nov. 16, 1957, "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon," the greenhouse land of Plan Book 51, Plan 62 less the 150 by 75 foot northwest corner, "Including as part of the realty all fixtures/business personal property of whatever kind and nature at present installed in or on the granted premises, and good will." "Being the same premises conveyed to Oscar A. Ericson and Charles W. Gridelli by Harlie G. Bohannon and Florence B. Bohannon, dated May 1, 1948."
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| September 13, 1967 | Quitclaim | Charles W. Gridelli and Mary L. Gridelli of Billerica | Private owners of Wakefield | greenhouse business sold to private owners | 1813/59 |
Dated Sept. 12, 1967. The greenhouse land "with the buildings thereon" (141.24 feet on Boston Road, 281.31 feet deep, by G. L. Backer, F. A. Porter, A. E. Angell and Ericson and Gridelli), "Including as part of the realty all fixtures and business personal property of whatever kind and nature at present installed in or on the granted premises and good will," and the 75 by 75 foot lot behind the Ericson corner lot (Book 1089, Page 569). Title: Book 1565, Page 538; Plan Book 51, Plan 62. Mortgages were recorded the same day.
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| March 4, 1970 | Quitclaim | Musgrave's Tower Farm, Inc., by Thomas W. Musgrave, president, and Earl R. Musgrave, clerk | J. Everett Farmer (also known as James E. Farmer) and Phyllis C. Farmer of Billerica, tenants by the entirety | 1970: Tower Farm to the Farmers | 1915/241 |
For $569,000 ($1,297.30 in stamps), two parcels. Parcel 1: "A parcel of land with the buildings thereon located on the Easterly side of Boston Road", from the Town of Billerica's right of way north 434 feet on Boston Road, bounded by the Town's standpipe land, land of Farmer on the south and east, a stone wall along the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and "registered land of Davis" (Lot A) on the north, and the lots of Baraldi and Evelyn R. Musgrave on the road; subject to easements to Lowell Electric Light Company (Book 1108, Page 521) and to the Town for water purposes, Sept. 6, 1967 (Book 1838, Page 423). Conveys all the corporation's land under the deeds of John Thomas and Evelyn R. Musgrave (Book 1089, Page 61), Robert J. and James W. Shannon, April 28, 1948 (Book 1089, Page 385), and James W. Shannon et al., Feb. 14, 1970, except the Baraldi lot (Book 1541, Page 4), the Hargrove lot sold to Evelyn R. Musgrave in 1955 (Book 1307, Page 484) and a 1950 lot to John T. and Evelyn R. Musgrave (Book 1146, Page 275). Parcel 2: thirty acres on the west side of Allen Road (other land). Dated March 9, 1970.
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| June 16, 1970 | Quitclaim | The private owners of 1967, then of Reading | Unified Land Development Corporation of 884 Boston Road, Billerica | sold to Unified Land Development Corp., equipment removed | 1924/157 |
Dated June 15, 1970. For $85,000, the same two parcels "with the buildings thereon," "Excluding as part of the realty all fixtures, heating equipment including boiler, burner, piping, etc.," which the sellers might remove within thirty days. "For title reference see deed to Grantors from Charles W. Gridelli et ux dated Sept. 12, 1967 ... Book 1813, Page 59." Unified was the developer of Bear Hill Estates.
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| December 2, 1971 | Quitclaim | Unified Land Development Corporation, by Chester R. Kindred, president | Woburn Five Cents Savings Bank of Woburn | land to Woburn Five Cents Savings Bank | 1989/326 |
Signed Sept. 21, 1971. For $85,000, "A certain parcel of land" on the easterly side of Boston Road, no buildings named: 141.24 feet on the road, by Ericson, M. B. Angell, Musgrave, Jones and Backer, 281.31 feet along Backer on the south, "containing 52,000 square feet, more or less." "Being the same premises described in deed from [the 1970 sellers] to Unified Land Development Corporation dated June 15, 1970 ... Book 1924 Page 157." The greenhouses had been taken down.
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| March 17, 1972 | Quitclaim | Oscar A. Ericson's widow and her second husband, of Ossipee, New Hampshire | Woburn Five Cents Savings Bank | front lot to the bank | 2002/55 |
For $12,000, the 75 by 75 foot corner lot "with the buildings thereon" on the easterly side of Boston Road, north by Angell, east and south by land formerly of Gridelli and of Ericson and Gridelli, now of Unified Land Development Corporation, 5,625 square feet. Title by a 1968 deed (Book 1843, Page 258) from the widow, who had held the lot since her husband's death as surviving tenant by the entirety under the 1948 Blake deed (Book 1089, Page 570).
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| April 2, 1992 | Deed | Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, liquidating agent of Woburn Five Cents Savings Bank | Sterling Bank of Waltham | FDIC to Sterling Bank | 5878/238 |
For $140,000, "all its right, title and interest" in land "together with the buildings thereon" on Boston Road, as shown on the "Plan of Land, 508 Boston Road, Billerica, Mass." by R. E. Cameron & Associates, Feb. 6, 1992 (Plan Book 178, Plan 42), 58,290 square feet or 1.338 acres, with the benefit of an easement (Book 2060, Page 82). The FDIC had been appointed liquidating agent of the bank on June 7, 1991. "Meaning and intending to convey those premises conveyed to Woburn Five Cents Savings Bank in those certain Deeds ... Book 2002, Page 55 and in Book 1989, Page 326."
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| August 3, 2000 | Deed | Fleet National Bank, successor to Sterling Bank | S-BNK Billerica LLC | to S-BNK Billerica LLC | 10979/54 |
For $873,753, 508 Boston Road, the 1.338 acres of the 1992 R. E. Cameron plan (Plan Book 178, Plan 42). "For our title see deed to Sterling Bank dated April 2, 1992 ... Book 5878, Page 238."
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| September 29, 2015 | Deed | S-BNK Billerica LLC | ARAK II LLC | present owner | 29457/243 |
For $1, 508 Boston Road (Plan Book 178, Plan 42), title Book 10979, Page 54. The assessor (parcel 61-115-1) lists 1.295 acres and a bank building built about 1975.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.