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Billerica Village Improvement Association

Billerica Village Improvement Association


The Billerica Village Improvement Association (the "B. C. V. I. A." or "Billerica V. I. A." of the town records) was the village improvement society of Billerica Centre in the 1890s and early 1900s, one of two such societies in the town. Its counterpart in the mill village was the North Billerica Village Improvement Association (the "N. B. V. I. A."). From 1894 to 1902 the town paid the two associations to light the streets of the two villages, and when the Billerica V. I. A. wound up its affairs in 1905 it gave the town its property and a small trust fund for the seats on the Common, which the town still holds.

Street lighting

Before the town lit its own streets, the two associations did it with money voted by the town meeting. The annual meeting of 1894 raised $500 for lighting the streets, "one-half to be allowed the V. I. A. at North Billerica and one-half for the V. I. A. at Billerica Centre," and the town's accounts for that year show payments to R. B. Holden, treasurer of the B. C. V. I. A., and W. A. Evans, treasurer of the N. B. V. I. A. The meeting of 1895 again voted $500, half to be expended by each association, and the warrants of the following years asked for $600, $700 and $760 "to be divided between the V. I. A. of North Billerica and Billerica Centre, to be expended by them for street lighting." In 1901, on the motion of Frederic S. Clark of the Talbot Mills, the $700 voted for street lighting was "equally divided between the V. I. A. at North Billerica and Billerica Centre, to be used by them for street lighting." In 1902 the warrant asked for $1,650 for lighting the two villages; the meeting cut the sum to $700 and voted, on the motion of Roger Barrington, that it "be equally divided between the Village Improvement Association at North Billerica and Billerica Centre." That was the last such vote: in 1903 the town raised $1,350 for street lighting at North Billerica and Billerica Centre and authorized the selectmen to make the contracts themselves. By then a town-wide society, the Billerica Improvement Association, had been organized on June 30, 1902.

Dissolution and the Common Seat Fund

A special town meeting on August 7, 1905 acted on two articles from the Billerica V. I. A. Under Article 5 the town voted, on the motion of T. E. Smith, to accept in trust "a certain sum of money remaining in the treasury of said Association," to be safely invested, "the income and principal, if needed, to be used for the purpose of maintaining and caring for seats on the Common." Under Article 6, on the motion of Sidney A. Bull, it accepted "as a gift from the Billerica V. I. A. all its personal property, consisting of crockery, glassware, silverware, snow plow and eight settees," and voted "that the thanks of the meeting be given that organization." The association that made the gift was evidently the Centre society, since its fund was for the seats on the Common. The sum received from it was $37.10. The town has carried it ever since as the Common Seat Fund among its trust funds, which stood at $196.07 in 2025.





References

  1. Town Report 1895: annual meeting of 1894, Art. 22, $500 for lighting the streets, one-half to the V. I. A. at North Billerica and one-half to the V. I. A. at Billerica Centre
  2. Town Report 1895, street lighting account: R. B. Holden, Treasurer B. C. V. I. A.; W. A. Evans, Treasurer N. B. V. I. A.
  3. Town Report 1896: Art. 27, $500 for street lighting, one-half to be expended by the V. I. A. at the Centre and one-half by the V. I. A. at North Billerica
  4. Town Report 1901: Art. 14, moved by F. S. Clark, the $700 for street lighting equally divided between the V. I. A. at North Billerica and Billerica Centre
  5. Town Report 1902: Art. 27, $1,650 cut to $700, divided equally between the Village Improvement Association at North Billerica and Billerica Centre (R. Barrington)
  6. Town Report 1903: Art. 16, $1,350 for street lighting at North Billerica and Billerica Centre, the Selectmen to make all necessary contracts
  7. Town Report 1905-06: warrant for the special town meeting of August 7, 1905, Arts. 5 and 6 on the trust fund and personal property of the Billerica V. I. A.
  8. Town Report 1905-06: meeting of August 7, 1905, trust accepted (Art. 5) and gift of all the V. I. A. property accepted with thanks on motion of S. A. Bull (Art. 6)
  9. Town Report 1993, trust funds: Common Seat Fund, from Art. 5 of August 7, 1905; the Town received $37.10 from the Billerica V.I.A.
  10. Billerica Annual Report 2025, trust funds: Common Seat, $196.07