Billerica State Forest
Billerica State Forest is an undeveloped state forest of about 141 acres on Gilson Hill in North Billerica, between the Rangeway Road, Winning Street, the Treble Cove Road and Route 3. The Department of Conservation and Recreation owns it. The town's brochures pair it with Gilson Hill, the Rangeway Town Forest and the McDonald Knowles Conservation Land; there are trails for hiking, mountain biking and skiing but no parking lot, and the Old Middlesex Turnpike, now a dirt road, runs along its western side.
The forest is made of two old woodlots on the southeasterly slope of the hill and of the town forest lots around them. The "Gilson Hill Lot", about 53 1/2 acres, was put together by John and Henry Baldwin from four purchases: from Jesse Manning in 1824, from Zadok Howe as guardian of Josiah Crosby in 1833, from Francis Kidder in 1847 and from William Blanchard in 1851. When John Baldwin's estate was divided among his heirs in September 1876, the lot went to Elizabeth C. Baldwin, and she sold it in August 1902 to Frederic A. Morey of Billerica. The "Robinson Lot", about 44 acres between the Lowell (Treble Cove) Road and the Old Middlesex Turnpike, had been surveyed for J. N. Parker in 1891; Henry S. Pihl of Lowell, who bought it in 1892, sold it to Morey in May 1902. Morey died soon after, and on June 21, 1904 his executors, Nathan W. Reed and Thomas J. Morey, sold both lots to Warren H. Manning. In 1908 Manning and his neighbor John E. Rowell drew up "A plan of land in Billerica Mass. for a Wood Road and Hill Top Reservation on Gilson Hill". Manning gave the Appalachian Mountain Club Lot 2, about five acres on the summit, with a right of way to Gilson Spring on the west side of the hill, and Rowell gave the adjoining Lot 1, both to be held "for the use and benefit of the public"; Manning gave the Billerica Improvement Association, of which he was president, a strip 100 feet wide winding up from the Rangeway Road (7.4 acres) and another running down to the Treble Cove Road (4.95 acres), as the "Wood Road" to the reservation.
When the town created its Town Forest in 1924 and 1925, Gilson Hill became its first ground. The Improvement Association gave its strips as the first two numbered "Billerica Town Forest" areas, Manning gave Lots 3, 4 and 7 on the hill, and Ada F. Jones gave a six-acre lot at the corner of the Rangeway Road and Winning Street in memory of Albert H. Jones. In 1925 the Massachusetts Forestry Association planted spruces on the hillside as a memorial to its late secretary, Edwin A. Start, who had lived in Billerica. In 1932 the Town Forest Committee reported that the Appalachian Mountain Club meant to pass its reserve on to the Trustees of Public Reservations as part of their planned Bay Circuit.
The state forest came in two steps. On October 19, 1934 Manning deeded the Commonwealth the rest of the two woodlots, about 36 acres from the Robinson Lot and about 34 from the Gilson Hill Lot, under the state forest law. On August 12, 1935, under Article 58 of the annual town meeting, the Selectmen deeded to the Commonwealth "all the land known as Town Forest Reserve" lying northeast of the Middlesex Turnpike, northwest of the Treble Cove Road, west of the Boston Road to Sprague's Bridge, south of the old canal and southeast of the Chelmsford line, as shown on Manning's plan of the Town Forest System. They kept back only a 2.6-acre lot on the Rangeway Road beside the land of Egbert and Alice Hans, which the same meeting voted to deed to them. In 1948 the Planning Board counted 75 acres of the "Billerica State Forest" as "potentially available" for veterans' housing projects, in answer to a survey of state-owned land by the State Planning Board, and 93 more acres as "of poor suitability", but the land stayed forest. Route 3, built through North Billerica in the early 1950s, now forms its western edge. The state's planning unit report counts the forest at 141 acres, notes dumping near Winning Street and a fire ring on the top of Gilson Hill, and recommends a state entrance sign.
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1824 | Deed | Jesse Manning | John and Henry Baldwin | Jesse Manning sells woodland on Gilson Hill to John and Henry Baldwin (1824) | 254/231 (South) |
Dated March 4, 1824 (Middlesex South; known from the recital in the Baldwin partition deed of 1876, Book 120, Page 230). One of the four deeds by which John Baldwin and his brother Henry assembled the woodlot later called "the Gilson Hill Lot".
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| April 22, 1833 | Guardian's Deed | Dr. Zadok Howe of Billerica, guardian of Josiah Crosby, minor | John Baldwin Esq. and Henry Baldwin, gentleman, both of Billerica | Guardian of Josiah Crosby sells the main part of the Gilson Hill Lot to the Baldwins (1833) | 322/316 (South) |
Dated April 9, acknowledged April 18, recorded April 22, 1833. Under the license of the Supreme Judicial Court (October term, 1832), after public auction on April 2 and 9, 1833, for $2,557.15 to the highest bidders, "the homestead place of Josiah Crosby Esquire late of Billerica deceased," 21 acres 23 rods "with the buildings thereon," bounded easterly on the highway from Billerica to Boston, southerly and westerly by Michael Crosby Jr. and northerly by land formerly of Benjamin Bowers; also the schoolhouse lot of 8 acres 38 rods, half the Fox Hill (Rowland) lot, the Frost pasture of 26 acres 38 rods and a pew. Billerica town book 16, pages 233-235 (Southern Registry Book 322 Page 316). The same day the Baldwins deeded the homestead and schoolhouse lot to Howe himself (Southern Registry Book 325 Page 559), a straw sale that let the guardian buy.
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| 1847 | Deed | Francis Kidder | John Baldwin | Francis Kidder to John Baldwin, part of the Gilson Hill Lot (1847) | 519/408 (South) |
Dated October 15, 1847 (Middlesex South; known from the recital in Book 120, Page 230). Another piece of the Gilson Hill Lot.
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| 1851 | Deed | William Blanchard | John Baldwin | William Blanchard to John Baldwin, part of the Gilson Hill Lot (1851) | 608/373 (South) |
Dated January 1, 1851 (Middlesex South; known from the recital in Book 120, Page 230). The last of the four pieces of the Gilson Hill Lot.
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| September 23, 1876 | Partition Deed | Sarah Baldwin, John Baldwin, Lucy A. Baldwin, Frances Baldwin, Rachel A. Baldwin, Charles H. Parker, Mary C. Morey, Frederic A. Morey, Clara B. Reed, Nathan H. Reed, Frederick A. Parker and Agnethe C. Parker | Elizabeth C. Baldwin of Billerica, single woman | Partition of the estate of John Baldwin gives the Gilson Hill Lot to Elizabeth C. Baldwin (1876) | 120/230 |
Signed September 14, 1876, acknowledged before Dudley Foster, recorded September 23, 1876 (pages 230 to 232). For one dollar, with the release of dower and homestead: "The lot called the Gilson Hill Lot, containing about fifty three and one half acres, more or less, being described in a deed from Zadock Howe, Guardian of Josiah Crosby, to John & Henry Baldwin dated April 9th A.D. 1833 ... Book 322, Page 316. Also in a deed from Jesse Manning to the said John & Henry Baldwin dated March 4th A.D. 1824 ... Book 254 Page 231. Also in a deed from Francis Kidder to John Baldwin, dated October 15th A.D. 1847 ... Book 519 Page 408 and also in a deed from William Blanchard to John Baldwin dated January 1st A.D. 1851 ... Book 608 Page 373", and the seven-acre "Lewis White Lot". "The above premises are a portion of the estate of the late John Baldwin, deceased, and are deeded for the purpose of partition." The lot was drawn on a plan of the woodland of the estate of John Baldwin by J. R. Carter of Woburn, July 1876.
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| 1892 | Deed | J. H. Parker et al. | Henry S. Pihl of Lowell | J. H. Parker et al. to Henry S. Pihl, the Robinson Lot (1892) | 237/442 |
Dated October 8, 1892 (known from the recital in Book 345, Page 567). Part of the title to the "Robinson Lot" on the southeasterly side of Gilson Hill, surveyed for J. N. Parker by Osgood and Snell on May 4, 1891.
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| 1892 | Deed | Dudley Foster | Henry S. Pihl of Lowell | Dudley Foster to Henry S. Pihl, the Robinson Lot (1892) | 237/443 |
Dated October 1, 1892 (known from the recital in Book 345, Page 567). The other part of Pihl's title to the Robinson Lot.
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| July 24, 1902 | Warranty Deed | Henry S. Pihl of Lowell and Wilhelmine A. Pihl | Frederic A. Morey of Billerica | Pihl sells the Robinson Lot, about 44 acres, to Frederic A. Morey (1902) | 345/567 |
Signed May 16, 1902, recorded July 24, 1902, for one dollar and other considerations: "a certain lot of land known as the Robinson Lot situated on the south easterly side of Gilson Hill in the western part of Billerica" of about 44 acres, as on the plan "Land in Billerica surveyed for J. N. Parker May 4, 1891" by Osgood and Snell, "the same premises as conveyed to me ... by deed of J. H. Parker et al dated Oct 8, 1892 ... Book 237 Page 442, and by deed of Dudley Foster dated Oct 1, 1892 ... Book 237 Page 443", saving the strip west of the "Old Middlesex Turnpike" sold to Warren Shedd and a two-acre lot on the "Lowell Road" sold to Clara M. Deering on July 24, 1899.
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| August 6, 1902 | Warranty Deed | Elizabeth C. Baldwin of Billerica | Frederic A. Morey of Billerica | Elizabeth C. Baldwin sells the Gilson Hill Lot, 53 1/2 acres, to Frederic A. Morey (1902) | 346/184 |
Signed August 2, 1902, recorded August 6, 1902, for one dollar and other considerations: "The lot called the Gilson Hill Lot containing about fifty-three and one half acres more or less being described in a deed from Zadok Howe guardian of Josiah Crosby to John & Henry Baldwin dated April 9, 1833 ... Book 322, Page 316. Also in a deed of Sarah Baldwin et al to me ... dated Sept. 14, 1876 ... Book 120, Page 230."
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| 1904 | Executors' Deed | Nathan W. Reed and Thomas J. Morey, executors of Frederic A. Morey | Warren H. Manning | Morey's executors sell both lots to Warren H. Manning (1904) | ?/? |
Two deeds dated June 21, 1904 (known from the recitals in Book 855, Page 31 and Book 734, Page 56; they were to be recorded with the 1934 deed to the Commonwealth, "to be recorded herewith", but are not on the pages just before it). The executors of Frederic A. Morey convey to Warren H. Manning the Robinson Lot and the Gilson Hill Lot that Morey had bought in 1902.
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| March 19, 1908 | Warranty Deed | Frederick C. Bemis and Nellie M. Bemis of Billerica | Anthony J. Bemis of Billerica | Anthony H. Bemis to Albert H. Jones, land at Rangeway Road and Winning Street (1908) | 416/135 |
For $1, "all the real estate belonging to us or either of us situated in said Billerica and in Chelmsford ... supposed to contain and comprise twenty-four lots or parcels of land," being the premises described in their 1907 mortgage to the Central Savings Bank of Lowell (Book 404 Page 101), except three lots near the railroad and the cemetery, and subject to that mortgage. Signed March 19, 1908.
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| October 30, 1908 | Quitclaim Deed | Warren H. Manning of Brookline and Henrietta H. Manning | Appalachian Mountain Club | Manning gives the hilltop reservation to the Appalachian Mountain Club (1908) | 425/491 |
Dated June 1908, recorded about October 30, 1908 (pages 491 and 492). For one dollar, a lot on "A plan of land in Billerica Mass. for a Wood Road and Hill Top Reservation on Gilson Hill deeded by Warren H. Manning and John E. Rowell, made by Warren H. Manning, Landscape Designer, dated March 18, 1908", from a stone bound at Station 30 on the division line between the lands of Manning and of John E. Rowell, "shown on said plan as lot #2 and contains five (5) acres more or less", "Together with a right of way to and from the spring situated on the westerly side of said Gilson Hill" ten feet wide, to be held by the Club "for the use and benefit of the public, subject to such rules and regulations as the Trustees of Real Estate for the time being may from time to time make". John E. Rowell gave the Club the adjoining Lot 1 of the same plan by the deed recorded next. Henrietta H. Manning releases dower.
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| October 30, 1908 | Quitclaim Deed | Warren H. Manning of Brookline | Billerica Improvement Association | Manning gives two strips to the Billerica Improvement Association (1908) | 425/495 |
Dated June 1908, recorded about October 30, 1908 (pages 495 to 497). For one dollar, two parcels on the same plan of March 18, 1908: Parcel 1, "A strip of land one hundred (100) feet in width" from Station 1, "a drill hole on rock in wall on the east side of Rangeway Road", 554 feet from the line between Manning and the heirs of Anthony Jones, winding up the hill to the reservation, "lot number 1 ... seven and 4/10 (7.4) acres"; and Parcel 2, from Station 22 on the line between Manning and "land formerly of John E. Rowell, and now of the Appalachian Mountain Club", down to the west side of the Treble Cove Road, "lot number 3 ... four and 95/100 (4.95) acres". The Association conveyed both to the town as the first two Town Forest areas in 1925.
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| March 2, 1926 | Quitclaim Deed | Ada F. Jones of Billerica | Inhabitants of Billerica | Ada F. Jones gives Lot Six, a memorial forest for Albert H. Jones (1926) | 733/498 |
Signed February 12, 1926, recorded March 2, 1926. "For the purposes of public parks, public play grounds, and a public domain" under Chapter 45 of the General Laws, Lot Six on "Billerica Town Forest System, Plan A", surveyed September 30, 1925, on the southeasterly side of the Rangeway Road and along Winning Street, beside "land ... recently conveyed by Warren H. Manning to the Inhabitants of Billerica", "Being a part of the same premises conveyed to Albert H. Jones by Anthony H. Bemis by deed dated March 19, 1908, Book 416, Page 135". The Town Forest Committee called it the six-acre memorial forest at the corner of the Rangeway Road and Winning Street, given in memory of Albert H. Jones.
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| March 6, 1926 | Deed | Warren H. Manning and Henrietta H. Manning of Billerica | Inhabitants of Billerica (Town Forest) | Manning gives Lots 3, 4 and 7 on Gilson Hill to the Town Forest (1926) | 734/56 |
Signed February 12, 1926 and recorded March 6, 1926, pages 56 to 59. One of the gifts accepted by the 1925 town meeting for the Town Forest: Warren H. Manning conveys several of the numbered lots on "Billerica Town Forest System, Plan A", surveyed September 30, 1925, on the slopes of Gilson Hill and along the Rangeway Road: a lot "being the same premises conveyed to me by Nathan W. Reed and Thomas J. Morey by deed dated June 21, 1904", subject to a right of way of the Appalachian Mountain Club; Lot Seven on the southeasterly side of the Rangeway Road beside Lot Six of Ada F. Jones; Lot Nine, on the easterly side of the Rangeway Road "about two thousand (2000) feet southerly" from the road from Chelmsford Centre to Billerica, by land of Coburn S. Smith, "part of the same premises conveyed to the grantor by Frederick F. Faulcon and Theodore F. Faulcon by deed dated January 10, 1925, Book 696, Page 436"; and Lots Eleven and Eleven A, on the northwesterly side of the Rangeway Road, running past the corner of the wall of "Old Dow's farm" and land of the Baldwin heirs to the Chelmsford road. The grantor reserves rights of way for his remaining land. Henrietta H. Manning, his wife, releases dower and homestead.
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| October 24, 1934 | Warranty Deed | Warren H. Manning, widower, of Billerica | Commonwealth of Massachusetts | Manning deeds about 70 acres on Gilson Hill to the Commonwealth (1934) | 855/31 |
Signed October 19, 1934, recorded October 24, 1934, approved as to form and title by the Assistant Attorney General. Under Chapter 132, Section 33 of the General Laws, with warranty covenants, two parcels on Gilson Hill: Parcel 1, from a stone bound on the "Lowell Road, also called Treble Cove Road" along the "Moosley Land", the "Old Middlesex Turnpike", the "Cranberry Meadow" and a "Bridle Way", "Being the same premises conveyed by Henry S. Pihl to Frederic A. Morey, May 16, 1902 ... Book 345, Page 567, and by said Morey's Executors to grantor by deed dated June 21, 1904", less the half acre given to the Appalachian Mountain Club in 1908, Lot 4 given to the town in 1926 and the 4.95-acre strip given to the Billerica Improvement Association, "about thirty-six (36) acres"; Parcel 2, from the Rangeway Road by land of Hans or Twombly, G. F. Colson and Rowell, the land "of Elizabeth C. Baldwin to Frederic A. Morey dated August 2, 1902 ... Book 346, page 184", less the Appalachian Mountain Club land, Lots 3 and 7 given to the town and 7.4 acres given to the Improvement Association, "about thirty-four (34) acres".
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| September 21, 1935 | Deed | Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by its Selectmen | Commonwealth of Massachusetts | The town deeds its Town Forest Reserve to the Commonwealth (1935) | 872/444 |
Signed August 12, 1935 and recorded September 21, 1935, pages 444 to 446, approved as to form by the Assistant Attorney General. Under Article 58 of the annual town meeting of 1935, the Selectmen Maurice A. Buck, A. Warren Stearns, George S. Gracie, Arthur R. Hallenborg and Frank A. Kelley quitclaim to the Commonwealth, "for consideration paid" and under General Laws Chapter 132, Section 33, "all the land known as Town Forest Reserve conveyed to the Town of Billerica by various deeds, lying northeasterly of the Middlesex Turnpike so-called from the Treble Cove Road to the Chelmsford-Billerica town line; lying northwesterly of Treble Cove Road; lying westerly of Boston Road to Sprague's Bridge so-called; lying southerly of the old Middlesex Canal site, and lying southeasterly of the Chelmsford-Billerica town line as shown on Manning's Plan A, Billerica Town Forest System", excepting Lot A, 2.60 acres on the southeasterly side of the Rangeway Road beside the land of Egbert and Alice I. Hans. The Town Clerk, Roland G. Wright, certifies the warrant article and the vote. This deed put the town forest lots on Gilson Hill and along the Rangeway Road into the state forest.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.
References
- Town of Billerica: Billerica State Forest, Gilson Hill, Rangeway Town Forest and McDonald Knowles brochure
- Mass. DCR, Lowell/Great Brook Planning Unit Resource Management Plan: Billerica State Forest, 141 acres
- Annual Reports 1920-1924: Town Forest committee (1923) and vote establishing a Town Forest (1924); Gilson Hill article
- Annual Reports 1925-1929: gifts B.T.F. 1 to 26 accepted (1925); spruces planted on Gilson Hill as a memorial to Edwin A. Start
- Annual Reports 1930-1934: Appalachian Mountain Club and the Bay Circuit (1932); Article 58 (1935)
- Annual Reports 1945-1949: Town Forest Committee (1946); Planning Board on Billerica State Forest acreage (1948)