Structure · Built 1894 · Demolished 1946
Centre Engine House
Centre Engine House
| Address | 21 Andover Rd |
| Built | 1894 |
| Demolished | 1946 |
The Centre Engine House was the building the town put up in 1894 to house both the fire apparatus of Billerica Centre and the town's road teams. It stood off Andover Road at the back of the Pollard School land, and the Centre fire company worked from it until the brick Center Fire Station on Boston Road was finished in 1918. The building then served as the town barn of the highway department until 1946, when the town sold it for $100 and handed its land over to the school committee.
At a town meeting on July 16, 1894 the town voted $1,000 "to build a building for Town teams and for the Fire Department." The selectmen took charge of the work themselves. In their report for the year they named "the stable and engine house, Billerica Centre" as one of their two largest jobs, the other being the wall and fence around Union Hall in North Billerica. Smith Brothers did the work for $1,050.77, Arthur Allen was paid $10 for plans, and insurance cost $12, $1,072.77 in all. The accounts call the same job both the Engine House and the Town Stable. The fire company's half was left unfinished. At the March 1895 meeting, on a motion by Roger Barrington, the town voted $500 "to finish that part of the town stable used by fire department", with Everett W. Livingston and the Board of Engineers as the committee, and they spent $518.
The town paid watchmen to guard the engine house on the night before the Fourth of July, and in 1904 and 1905 it paid Edward A. King for repairs and Thomas Ellis $150 for a heating plant. The shared building suited the horses better than the fire engines. In 1902 the engineers reported that the varnish on the wagons at the Centre "is being spoiled by the ammonia from town stable" and that "the present quarters are crowded", and in 1903 that the department could be improved only "by a new building for the fire department." On July 12, 1908 a fire of unknown cause in the town stable did $800 in damage, and the town collected $984.70 in insurance and repaired it. A new station was talked about for years. A committee of 1914 wanted a one-story house 40 by 50 feet, and the town voted money for a fireproof station in 1915. The brick Center Fire Station on Boston Road was finished in 1918, and the apparatus left the stable.
The reports never say in words where the building stood, but the later records place it. In 1891 and 1892 the town had bought about 3.8 acres on the south side of Andover Road for the new Pollard School: the front "Page lot" from Annie M. Hall, and the land around and behind it, which J. Nelson Parker had bought from George W. Searles, in two deeds of August 1891 and April 1892. The grantee index shows no other land bought by the town at the Centre in those years. In 1920 the highway surveyor wrote that "the Town Stable is badly in need of repairs. The roof is leaking, the sills are in a rotted condition". The next year he reported that "the Town Barn has been repaired", with shingling, new underpinning and paint, and a new carriage shed beside it. The fire insurance map of 1923 shows a long frame stable, two stories at the north end with a one-story wing, at the east edge of the school land behind the Pollard School. In 1945 the selectmen described "the Town Barn, an obsolete two story frame building, located off Andover Road, adjacent to the Pollard School yard." The deeds of the land next door confirm the site. In June 1892 Searles sold the acre and a quarter just east of the school land, where Everett W. Livingston had built a cider mill the year before, bounding it 14 rods 6 feet "by town land," and every deed of the Livingston Cider Mill lot down to 1969 repeats that line; the town never acquired any part of it. On the 1923 map the stable stands on the town side of that line, between the fenced school yard and the mill, at the end of the 40-foot way that ran in from Andover Road between the Shedd and Baker house lots.
The barn was repaired again in 1932. At the annual town meeting of February 9, 1946 the town authorized the selectmen "to dispose of the Town Barn" and voted that "the real estate there be released and transferred to the jurisdiction of the School Committee." The treasurer's account for 1946 lists "Town Barn, $100.00" among the sales of real estate. The building was sold for removal, and its site became part of the school grounds. The land is now Pollard Park at 21 Andover Road, with the Little League field at the back, still held under J. Nelson Parker's deed of 1892.
The land was part of the farm of Capt. Josiah Bowers, who died in 1824. In 1834 the heirs of his brother Andrew Bowers sold the Bowers homestead, with "about thirty acres" on the other side of the road, to Jonathan Gates, who sold it the same year to Ichabod G. Kimball. Kimball kept the land behind the road lots until 1875, when he conveyed his farm to George W. Searles in return for his support. On August 15, 1891 Searles sold three and a half acres around and behind the Page lot to J. Nelson Parker. Parker sold the town the western half that day for $400 and quitclaimed the eastern half, where the engine house was later built, on April 23, 1892 for $600.
References
- Annual Report of the Town of Billerica, 1895: "the stable and engine house, Billerica Centre"; Engine House account (Smith Bros. $1,050.77); July 16, 1894 meeting, Art. 16
- Annual Report of the Town of Billerica, 1896: March 1895 meeting, Art. 17, $500 "to finish that part of the town stable used by fire department"
- Annual Report of the Town of Billerica, 1902: engineers on crowded quarters and "ammonia from town stable"
- Annual Report of the Town of Billerica, 1908: fire in the town stable, July 12, 1908; insurance $984.70
- Annual Report of the Town of Billerica, 1921: "the Town Barn has been repaired"; new carriage shed
- Annual Report of the Town of Billerica, 1945: warrant Art. 14, "the Town Barn, an obsolete two story frame building, located off Andover Road, adjacent to the Pollard School yard"
- Annual Report of the Town of Billerica, 1946: Feb 9, 1946 meeting, Art. 14 (dispose of the Town Barn; land to the School Committee); sale of real estate, Town Barn $100
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1824 | Administration | Estate of Capt. Josiah Bowers of Billerica, gentleman, intestate | Andrew Bowers of Salisbury, N.H., administrator; his brothers and sisters, heirs | 1824: estate of Capt. Josiah Bowers, whose 30 acres on the Andover road included the later engine house site | Probate #2301 |
Josiah Bowers died intestate on Nov. 17, 1824, leaving no widow. His heirs (James Bowers, Luther French, Amos Muzzy, Jacob Norton by his attorney Joseph Locke, and others) asked that "Andrew Bowers Esq. of Salisbury" be administrator, and he was appointed Nov. 23, 1824. The personal estate was auctioned Feb. 16-17, 1825; the account allowed Apr. 25, 1826 shows personal estate of $310.42 and "proceeds of sale of Real Estate sold by order of the Judge" of $1220, with the guardian's account of $488.32 among the debts.
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| May 31, 1834 | Heirs Quitclaim | Heirs of Andrew Bowers late of Salisbury, N.H., Esquire: Jacob and Hannah Norton; James Bowers of Fulton, Ohio (by Norton, attorney); William and Anna Muzzy of Lexington; Joseph and Ann B. Richardson of Hingham; Abraham and Frances B. True of Salem; Edward | Jonathan Gates of Lowell, machinist | 1834: the Bowers heirs sell the homestead and "about thirty acres" opposite to Jonathan Gates | 331/506 (South) |
Dated Apr. 2, 1834, recorded May 31, 1834 (Billerica town book 13, pages 552-555). For $2,500, a quitclaim of the lands "of which Andrew Bowers ... died seized": "the homestead of Capt. Josiah Bowers" of about eleven acres "with the buildings thereon" on the north side of the Salem road and Sheldon's lane, its south-west corner at the lane and Theophilus Manning, north by Manning and Ichabod Everett to the former Luther French farm, east by the French farm and the Nahum Baldwin lot; about 30 acres on the east side of the road opposite (John and Henry Baldwin, Fitch Tufts, the Nahum Baldwin pasture); a quarter of the Baldwin pasture; and six acres of wood on Fox Hill by the old Fox Hill road. Andrew Bowers died in New Hampshire, where his estate was settled.
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| September 22, 1836 | Warranty | Jonathan Gates of Billerica, machinist | Ichabod G. Kimball of Billerica, yeoman | 1834: Gates sells the farm to Ichabod G. Kimball | 354/457 (South) |
Dated June 30, 1834, recorded Sept. 22, 1836 (Billerica town book 15, pages 287-289). For $2,500, "formerly the homestead of Capt. Josiah Bowers deceased with the buildings thereon lying on the northerly side of the Salem road or Sheldon's lane so called containing about eleven acres," with 30 acres on the east side of the road opposite, 1 1/2 acres on the north side adjoining the first lot (north-east by the Luther French farm), and six acres of wood on Fox Hill, "being the same premises" quitclaimed to Gates by Jacob Norton and others on Apr. 2, 1834.
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| March 10, 1880 | Covenant to Stand Seized (conditional) | Ichabod G. Kimball of Billerica | George W. Searles of Billerica | 1875 (rec. 1880): Kimball conveys his farm to George W. Searles for his support | 138/261 |
Dated June 2, 1875, acknowledged June 20, 1875, recorded Mar. 10, 1880, six days after Kimball's death. For $1 and his support, Kimball covenants to stand seized of "my homestead farm": eleven acres "with the buildings thereon in which I now live" on the north side of the Andover road, 28 acres on the east side opposite, 1 1/2 acres adjoining the eleven acres (north-east by the Luther French farm) and six acres of wood on Fox Hill, his title from Jonathan Gates June 30, 1834 ("Book 354 Page 457"), except parts sold to John Ames, Gilman Fletcher and Thomas K. Shedd; to the use of Kimball and his wife Joanna P. for their lives and then of Searles, void if Searles failed to support them. Searles was meanwhile to have the farm and "the Westerly part of the house."
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| August 10, 1891 | Warranty Deed | Annie M. Hall, wife of Lemuel W. Hall, in her own right, sole heir of Ambrose F. Page (Lemuel W. Hall releasing) | The Town of Billerica | 1891: the town buys the front Page lot for the Pollard School, part of the school land | 226/99 |
Pages 99-100. Signed Aug. 4, 1891, acknowledged the same day before Wm. H. Anderson JP; recorded Aug. 10, 1891. For $600 paid by "The Town of Billerica a municipal corporation", "a certain tract of land situated in said Billerica on the southerly side of the road leading from said Billerica to Wilmington and Andover", bounded by land of [Gilman] Fletcher, Ichabod G. Kimball and Thomas R. Shed "now or formerly" and by the road, the same courses as in 1845. "Being the same premises conveyed to Ambrose F. Page by Edward Mansfield by his deed dated Oct. 25, 1845 ... Book 472 Page 27. My title to said premises comes as sole heir at law of said Page, he having deceased without a will and leaving no widow." The front "Page lot" of the Pollard School, bought days before the Searles and Parker deeds.
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| August 19, 1891 | Warranty Deed | George W. Searles of Billerica (Lucinda W. Searles, his wife, releasing dower and homestead) | J. Nelson Parker of Billerica | 1891: Searles sells the 3 1/2 acres behind the Page lot to J. Nelson Parker | 226/276 |
Signed Aug. 15, 1891 before Dudley Foster, recorded Aug. 19, 1891 (pages 276-277). For $1,000, "a certain tract of land situated in said Billerica": "Beginning at the southeast corner of the premises herein conveyed, on Andover street at a wall at land of John H. Baker, thence running southerly by land of said Baker and my other land on said wall to a wall at land of Paul Hill, thence westerly by said Hill's land on said wall to a wall at land of A. C. Lane, thence running northerly by said Lane's land on said wall to land formerly of A. F. Page, now owned by the town of Billerica, thence running easterly by said Page land and land of the heirs of the late Thomas R. Shed deceased, to a bound at a corner of a wall, thence running northerly by said heirs land on said wall to said Andover street, thence easterly on said Andover street about forty feet to the point of beginning, containing three and one half acres more or less." No title reference.
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| September 21, 1891 | Warranty Deed | J. Nelson Parker of Billerica | Town of Billerica, "a municipal corporation" | 1891: Parker sells the town the western half of the tract for the Pollard School ($400) | 227/178 |
Dated Aug. 15, 1891 (per the 1892 deed), recorded Sept. 21, 1891. For $400 paid by the town, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica near Andover street": beginning at the northwest corner "at land of A. C. Lane M.D. and at a wall and land of said Corporation," easterly by the town's land and land of the heirs of Thomas R. Shed to a bound "half way across the tract of land this day conveyed to me by G. W. Searles," then southerly parallel with the Lane land to land of Paul Hill, westerly by Hill to Lane, and northerly by Lane to the beginning. The western half of the Searles lot, for the new Centre (Pollard) school.
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| May 13, 1892 | Quitclaim Deed | J. Nelson Parker of Billerica | Town of Billerica | 1892: Parker quitclaims the eastern half to the town ($600); the 1894 stable and engine house was built at its east edge | 233/47 |
Recorded May 13, 1892. For $600 paid by the town, "remise, release and forever quitclaim" the rest of the lot: beginning at the northeast corner "on Andover street at a wall at land of John H. Baker," southerly by Baker and George W. Searles to Paul Hill, westerly by Hill to "land belonging to said Town of Billerica," northerly by the town's land to the heirs of the late Thomas R. Shed, easterly and northerly by the heirs to Andover Street and easterly on the street to the beginning. "The above parcel of land together with that described in a deed made by me to said town dated August 15, 1891, and recorded with Middlesex North Dist. Deeds libro 227 folio 178, is intended to convey all the land deeded to me by George W. and Lucinda W. Searles August 15, 1891 and recorded ... libro 226 folio 276." The Pollard School stood on this land from 1892 to 1981; Kids Konnection was built in its rear yard in 1990.
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| July 2, 1892 | Warranty Deed | George W. Searles of Billerica (Lucinda W. Searles, his wife, releasing dower and homestead) | Sarah J. Damon of Malden | 1892: the mill lot east of the engine house site is bounded "by town land"; the town barn stood on the school side of that line | 234/453 |
Signed June 18, 1892, acknowledged July 1, 1892 before Dudley Foster JP, recorded July 2, 1892. "In consideration of Three Hundred Dollars," a tract in Billerica: beginning at the northwest corner "at land of Wm. B. Stearns and my other land," west 14 rods 14 1/2 feet "by land of said Stearns & J. H. Baker," south 14 rods 6 feet "by town land," easterly 11 rods "by my other land," northwesterly about 10 rods 6 feet "by wall" to the beginning, "containing about one & a quarter (1 1/4) acres with a right of way from Andover Street through my land to said premises, with the buildings thereon." No title recital: part of the Kimball farm Searles held under the 1875 deed. The buildings were the cider mill Everett W. Livingston built in 1891 next to the new Pollard School land.
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| September 29, 1897 | Warranty Deed | Sarah J. Damon of Malden, wife of Charles E. Damon (Charles E. Damon releasing curtesy) | Everett W. Livingston of Billerica | 1892: Damon to Everett W. Livingston, the mill lot next to the town land | 291/16 |
Signed and acknowledged July 5, 1892 before Willard Welch JP; recorded Sept. 29, 1897 at 4 PM. "In consideration of one dollar," "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon" in Billerica, the same bounds ("south fourteen rods 6 ft. by town land"), "containing about one and a quarter (1 1/4) acres of land with a right of way from Andover Street through said Geo. W. Searles land to said premises." The next instrument, recorded the same day, mortgages the lot "with the buildings thereon" to John E. Rowell of Billerica for $250 at six per cent (discharged July 23, 1902).
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| August 22, 1969 | Quitclaim | The owners since 1959, a Billerica husband and wife (private) | Romolo E. Capobianco, Inc., usual place of business 29 Andover Road | 1969: the mill lot deeds still bound it "by Town land"; no part of it was ever the town barn lot | 1896/796 |
Recorded Aug. 22, 1969 at 2:09 PM. For consideration paid, with quitclaim covenants, "the land in Billerica ... together with the buildings thereon, situated Southerly of but not adjoining Andover Road," the same bounds ("SOUTHERLY 14 rods, 6 feet by Town land"), "about one and one-quarter (1 1/4) acres with a Right of Way from said Andover Road through said George W. Searles land." The Taylors had sold the lot on June 30, 1953 to a couple from Everett, who after a foreclosure notice by their mortgagee sold it in October 1959 to the grantor; both earlier transfers were to private owners and are summarized here. The company had bought the adjoining Messer land in 1968 and made both into Pollard Estates (Plan Book 112, Plan 14), the mill lot falling in Lot 2.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted; Probate # is a Middlesex probate case, Ctf a Land Court certificate of title.