Centre Schoolhouse (Pages Court)
Centre Schoolhouse
| Also Known As | District Number 1 Schoolhouse |
| Address | 5 Pages Ct |
| Built | 1845 |
| Demolished | 1888 |
| Other Lot Structures | Benjamin F. Gilbert House (Built 1846) |
The District No. 1 Schoolhouse was the school of Billerica's Centre district from 1845 to 1870. It stood on the north side of what is now Pages Court, a few rods west of the First Baptist Church on Concord Road, on the lot that is now the west part of 5 Pages Court.
The centre school had been kept since 1797 in the Town House on the east side of the Boston road, which the town and School District No. 1 held together. In 1844 Ann Parker divided her "Whitman lots" along a new passageway running west from the Concord road, on a chalk plan drawn by George W. Randall and dated April 1, 1844. On April 1, 1845 Charles H. Parker, who had bought lot 11 from her, sold it for $125 to "the Inhabitants of the First School District": about forty-six square rods, 102 feet on the centre of the passageway and about 125 feet deep, between land of Isaac Holden and Cornelius Sweetser, with twenty-five feet reserved "for a passageway in common forever." That October the town and the district sold the old Town House to Henry Baldwin as the building "heretofore used as a Town House & school house." The 1853 map of the town and the 1856 map of Billerica Village both mark "School" on the lot, beside the Baptist church.
In its report for 1868-69 the School Committee wrote that "neither of the buildings used by these schools" in Districts Nos. 1 and 2 "is fit for its purpose." After the town voted to give up its school districts, the First School District, by its committee Gardner Parker and Sylvester J. Hill, conveyed the lot "with the buildings thereon" to the town on February 26, 1870 for $739. The same month the town bought the old Universalist church lot on River Street, where it built the Centre Schoolhouse for the district's pupils. On February 28, 1871 the town, by its committee Daniel Floyd and Israel A. Colson, sold the lot and buildings for $550 to Benjamin F. Gilbert, whose house stood on the next lot to the east (the Benjamin F. Gilbert House); the deed was not recorded until May 6, 1873.
The 1875 map of the Centre still shows a small building on the lot, west of Gilbert's house. It is gone from the map of 1889, and by 1923 a stone garage stood in its place. The garage is still on the lot.
References
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| April 15, 1845 | Deed | Charles H. Parker of Billerica, yeoman (Mary B. Parker releasing dower) | The Inhabitants of the First School District in the Town of Billerica | 1845: Charles H. Parker sells lot 11 on the passageway to the First School District | 461/10 (South) |
Signed April 1, 1845, acknowledged April 2 before Marshall Preston, recorded April 15, 1845 (Billerica town book 17, pages 584-586). For $125, "a certain tract or parcel of land situate in said Billerica being the lot of land conveyed to me by Ann Parker by her deed dated April 1, 1844," about forty-six square rods: from the northeasterly corner at land of Ann Parker, westerly by her land 102 feet, southerly by land of Isaac Holden about 125 feet "to the centre of a passageway as marked out on chalk plan drawn by George W. Randall, dated April 1, 1844," easterly on the centre of the passageway 102 feet, and northerly by land of Cornelius Sweetser about 125 feet, "reserving twenty five feet for a passageway in common forever, the said lot being lot numbered Eleven on said chalk plan." Witnesses Marshall Preston and Samuel W. Baldwin.
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| 1845 | Warranty Deed | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica and the Inhabitants of School District No. 1 in Billerica | Henry Baldwin of Billerica, trader | 1845: the town and District No. 1 sell the old Town House, where the centre school had been kept | 480/52 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 130-131. Dated Oct. 1, 1845. For $600, "a certain tract of land situated in said town nearly opposite the First Parish Meeting house with the building thereon heretofore used as a Town House & school house", beginning at the southwest corner on the public highway, east by land of Baldwin 42 feet to land of Lyman Haynes, north and west by Haynes, south on the highway 40 feet. "Being the same premises conveyed to said Town of Billerica by James Abbot by his deed dated the 24th day of April A.D. 1798" (that deed was never recorded). Signed for the town by Daniel Wilson, Francis Richardson and Zadock Howe under a vote of the town meeting of March 17, 1845, and for the district by John Baldwin, John Eames and Joseph F. Hill.
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| March 22, 1870 | Quitclaim | The Inhabitants of the First School District in the town of Billerica, by Gardner Parker and Sylvester J. Hill, committee | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica | 1870: the First School District conveys the lot and schoolhouse to the town | 72/333 |
Dated and acknowledged Feb. 26, 1870 before Dudley Foster, recorded March 22, 1870. For $739, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon," about forty-six square rods, from the northeasterly corner at land formerly of Ann Parker, westerly by Parker land 110 feet, southerly by land of B. J. Gilbert about 125 feet to the centre of the passageway on George W. Randall's chalk plan, easterly on the centre of the passageway 110 feet, and northerly by land of Gilbert about 125 feet, reserving twenty-five feet across the southerly end "to be used as a public passageway in common forever." "Being the premises conveyed to said School District by Charles H. Parker by deed dated April 1st 1845," Southern District Book 461, Page 10. Recorded with the Universalist Society's deed of the River Street lot to the town (Book 72, Page 332).
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| May 6, 1873 | Quitclaim | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by Daniel Floyd and Israel A. Colson, committee | Benjamin F. Gilbert of Billerica | 1871: the town sells the lot and schoolhouse to Benjamin F. Gilbert | 93/104 |
Dated and acknowledged Feb. 28, 1871 before Dudley Foster, recorded May 6, 1873. For $550, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon," about forty-six square rods, with the same bounds as the 1870 deed (Gilbert's land on two sides, the centre of the passageway on the south, land formerly of Ann Parker on the north), reserving twenty-five feet as a public passageway, "being the premises conveyed to said Inhabitants by the First School District in the Town of Billerica, by deed dated Feb'y 26th 1870."
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| May 6, 1873 | Warranty Deed | Benjamin J. Gilbert of Billerica (Judith Gilbert releasing dower and homestead) | Albert R. Richardson of Billerica | the School House lot with the Gilbert place | 96/25 |
For $3,200, three adjoining tracts: about forty seven square rods "with the buildings thereon" at the Baptist Society land and the land formerly of Ann Parker, "the School House lot with the buildings thereon", and the lot west of it to Gardner Parker, reserving the 25-foot public pass way with the owners of the other "Baptist Lots"; "Being premises conveyed to me by Sophronia Mann deed dated May 6th 1869 & Inhabitants of Billerica deed dated February 28 1871." On the page before, the executor of Dr. Zadok Howe discharged Gilbert's old mortgage (Book 96 Page 24). Dated 1873; Richardson reconveyed the same land to Gilbert by deed of October 14, 1873.
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| July 24, 1883 | Warranty Deed | Benjamin J. Gilbert of Billerica, unmarried | Matilda E. Phelps of Billerica | the School House lot with the Gilbert place | 161/362 |
For $2,000, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica, containing about forty seven square rods, with the buildings thereon", from the Baptist Society land west by land formerly of Ann Parker about 102 feet to "the School House lot so called", south 125 feet; also "the School House lot with the buildings thereon" and the tract west of it to land of Gardner Parker, reserving "a strip of land twenty five feet in width across the southerly end of said lots" as a public passageway with the owners of the other "Baptist lots"; "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Albert R. Richardson deed dated Oct. 14th 1873". Dated and acknowledged July 16, 1883, before Dudley Foster; recorded July 24, 1883.
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| November 2, 1893 | Guardian's Deed | Francis E. Page of Brookline, guardian of his minor son Philip Sumner Page | Luvia A. Page, wife of Lorenzo A. Page, of Lexington | the School House lot, part of the Gilbert-Page land | 248/62 |
Under a license of the Norfolk County Probate Court of October 1893, the guardian sold at private sale for $1,225 "one undivided half part" of three adjoining tracts: about 47 square rods "with the buildings thereon", from the northeast corner at land of the Baptist Society west by land formerly of Ann Parker about 102 feet to "the School House lot, so called", south 125 feet, east about 102 feet and north by the Baptist Society land 125 feet (the house lot); "the School House lot with the buildings thereon", bounded south by land formerly of Benj. F. Gilbert to the centre of a passageway; and the tract west of it to land of Gardner Parker. A strip "twenty-five feet in width across the Southerly end of said lots" is "to be used as a public way" with the owners of the other "Baptist Lots". "Being the same premises described in the deed from Benj. F. Gilbert to Matilda E. Phelps dated July 16, 1883", Book 161 Page 362. Dated October 25, 1893; recorded November 2, 1893.
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| November 2, 1893 | Warranty Deed | Annie M. Phelps of Brookline, singlewoman | Luvia A. Page, wife of Lorenzo A. Page, of Lexington | the School House lot, part of the Gilbert-Page land | 248/64 |
For $1 and other valuable consideration, "one undivided half part" of the same three tracts: about 47 square rods "with the buildings thereon" at the Baptist Society land, "the School House lot with the buildings thereon", and the tract west of it to Gardner Parker, with the 25-foot public way across the south end shared with the owners of the other "Baptist Lots". "My title is derived by inheritance from my Mother, Matilda E. Phelps, who purchased said premises from Benj. F. Gilbert by deed dated July 16, 1883", Book 161 Page 362. The deed begins at the foot of page 64 and runs to page 66. Dated October 25, 1893; acknowledged October 31, 1893; recorded November 2, 1893.
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| December 30, 1932 | Quitclaim | Rose E. Macauley of Lowell, unmarried | Chester L. Page and Maude I. Page of Billerica, husband and wife, tenants by the entirety | the School House lot, part of the Gilbert-Page land | 821/441 |
The same two parcels, the first being the 248 square rods "with the buildings thereon" between the Baptist Society land and Gardner Parker's, north of the passageway (Pages Court); "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Chester L. Page by his deed of even date". Maude I. Page died in Billerica on August 5, 1936, and Chester L. Page left the place by his will (Middlesex probate docket 327623) to a devisee, who in 1960 deeded it to herself and another as joint tenants (Book 1478 Page 112). They put it in a family trust in 1977 (Book 2267 Page 616), and the trustee sold it to a private buyer in December 1983 for $60,000 (Book 2683 Page 349). The 1984 subdivision plan (Plan Book 142 Plan 126) made the house Lot 2, 0.668 acres with 265 feet on Pages Court; it was sold in 1984 (Book 2743 Page 253) and later passed within the owning family (Book 10793 Page 228, 2000; Book 29349 Page 274, 2015). Dated December 29, 1932; recorded December 30, 1932.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.