Cork City
Cork City
Cork City was a six-family block of mill housing that stood behind the houses on the east side of Wilson Street in North Billerica, on a lane running toward the Concord River that came to be called Wilson Avenue and is now Lights Lane. It was built by C. P. Talbot and Co. about 1865, in the same style as the company's first two-family houses, with a small double window above each double entrance. It had no street frontage of its own, only the right of way. The block burned in 1988, and a single house built in 1993 stands on its lot at 3 Lights Lane.
The land was part of the farm that Thomas Richardson sold in 1794 for the Middlesex Canal. In 1819 the canal proprietors sold 27 acres of it to Nathan Mears, whose homestead at the Canal Mills was surveyed into lots after his death in 1828. Lot 10, the three-acre "Mill Yard lot" between the passage way (now Wilson Street) and the river, was sold at the guardians' auction of 1832 to Gardner Parker, who passed it the next day to Nathaniel Stearns with the saw mill. After Stearns died in 1845 his executor, Marshall Preston, auctioned the Mill Yard lot in one-acre strips. On March 25, 1846, the carpenter Joseph J. Salter bought "the second lot from the Southerly end", running from "the centre of the passage way" to the river, for $186.50. He built his house on the street end and in 1850 sold the acre to Charles P. Talbot and Thomas Talbot for $250. The Cork City lot was the back of this acre.
The Talbots built Cork City after their mill of 1857 and before the 1875 map, which shows it. In 1884 the Talbot heirs conveyed the mills and the village to The Talbot Mills, which kept the block as rented housing for more than fifty years. When the company sold its houses on Plan A of 1926-1936, Cork City became Lot 8, 19,820 square feet south of the right of way, behind Lot 9 (the Salter house) and north of the B and L Laundry lot. The Talbot Mills sold it on October 9, 1939, "with the buildings thereon", to Lillian Gustafson of Chelmsford, keeping the common sewer and "the garage now standing on the granted premises" and requiring that the right of way be "forever kept open for the common use".
In 1946 Gustafson sold Lots 8 and 9 to William P. and Charlotte R. Hopkinson, who mortgaged Lot 8 to the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank for $2,200. The Hopkinsons sold Cork City in 1954, and it changed hands among private owners in 1955, 1968 and 1977, the last time for $30,000. In 1974 the Billerica Historical Commission recorded it as a dark red six-family block on unkempt grounds, with a setting near the river it thought "capital". It was a contributing building in the Billerica Mills Historic District listed in the National Register in 1983.
In 1986 the owners sold the property, then called 1-6 Wilson Avenue, to Heather Ann Realty Trust for $160,000. The trust mortgaged it to the Bank of New England in 1987 and began a substantial rehabilitation, but in 1988 the building was destroyed by fire, a loss the Historical Commission noted with regret in its annual report. The bank foreclosed in 1990 and sold the lot to S & F Properties, Inc. for $52,323. After the Bank of New England failed, the lot passed in 1993 to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver, which sold it for $15,000 to GO-JO Realty Trust. The trust built the present house that year and sold it in November 1993 to private owners; it has been sold privately since.
The 1974 inventory forms date the block to about 1865 by inference from the 1857 mill and the 1875 map; no deed records its building. The deeds of 1986 and the registry index of 1990 cite the Talbot plan as Plan Book 60 Plan 23, but the plan is Plan 25. The 1974 forms give the owner as Daniel D. Hughes; the deeds name him Daniel B. Hughes.
References
- MACRIS BIL.119
- Billerica assessor, 3 Lights Ln (parcel 15-25-0): Plan 60-25 Lot 8, built 1993; sales from 1986.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| March 31, 1794 | Deed | Solomon, Moses and Nathan Carleton, Jesse Manning, Thomas Todd, Thomas Laws and Thomas Mears, heirs of John Carleton, with their wives | Thomas Richardson of Billerica, gentleman | 1783 the Carleton heirs and others to Thomas Richardson, the farm later bought for the Middlesex Canal | 115/271 (South) |
Billerica town book 9, pages 87-91. Dated April 17, 1783, recorded March 31, 1794. For 818 pounds "lawful Silver money", "about forty Acres of Land ... on the West side of Concord River ... Easterly on said River, Westerly on the highway it being about two thirds of the land which was granted by the Town of Billerica unto Capt. Christopher Osgood", two thirds "of the Mills commonly known by the name of Osgoods or Carletons Mills" and two thirds of the dam and stream with the buildings, "as the same was set off by the Committee for the Widows Thirds", "meaning to convey two thirds of the Homested and Mills and Buildings thereon standing and the Shop is wholley conveyed". Richardson takes on two thirds of the 1708 town conditions, the Ruggles agreement and the repair of "the Bridge or Road" below the dam. Richardson later bought the widow's dower interest (S.115/274 and others) and in 1794 sold the whole as Richardson's Mills to the Middlesex Canal.
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| April 21, 1794 | Deed | Thomas Richardson of Billerica, gentleman (Judith Richardson releasing dower) | Ebenezer Hall of Medford and Samuel Jaques of Wilmington, a committee for the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal | 1794 Richardson to the Middlesex Canal committee | 115/259 (South) |
For 1350 pounds, "about forty acres of Land" bounded easterly by Concord River, westerly by the highway and northerly and southerly by the road; the reversion of half the dower of the widow Hannah Carlton, conveyed to him by Solomon, Moses and Nathan Carlton; five sixths of a small piece at the northeast end of the mill dam, bounded easterly "by Timothy Sprague's Ditch that conveys Water to the Fulling mill"; "together with all the Buildings ... including the Mills Mill priviledges ... commonly known by the name of Richardson's Mills being the same which was formerly granted by the Town of Billerica to Christopher Osgood together with the Mill Dam and Stream", on the conditions of the town's vote of October 4, 1708, a passage for fish, and his 1791 agreement with Timothy Sprague. Dated March 25, 1794; recorded April 21, 1794. Billerica town book 9, pages 81-82. The Canal Mills land from which the proprietors sold their small house lots.
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| September 23, 1820 | Deed | Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal, by John L. Sullivan, agent | Nathan Mears of Billerica, yeoman | 1819 the Canal proprietors to Nathan Mears, the 27 acres that became his homestead | 235/64 (South) |
For $813.18, "a certain tract of land ... containing by measure twenty seven acres and seventeen poles being a part of the Richardson farm," from the southeasterly corner at Concord River "north of the ford way," easterly by "the road leading to the Canal mills" to "land of the Proprietors laid out in small lots," then by the Proprietors' land and several short courses to the river "according to the annexed plat," and by the river to the beginning. Signed August 10, 1819; recorded September 23, 1820. Billerica town book 12, pages 172-173. This became the Mears homestead farm around the tavern lot.
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| June 24, 1828 | Administration | Estate of Nathan Mears of Billerica, yeoman | His minor children Edwin, Charles, Nathan, Lucy Ann and Elbert Mears; Marshall Preston, administrator | 1828 estate of Nathan Mears, whose homestead was surveyed into lots | Probate #14955 |
Nathan Mears died in June 1828 leaving "no widow, nor heirs of twenty one years of age"; at his children's request (and his own before his death) Marshall Preston of Billerica was appointed administrator at Framingham June 24, 1828, bond $30,000. The inventory lists the homestead of about 27 acres with three dwelling houses, the saw mill, "The Woolen Factory, occupied by Francis Faulkner & son", the forge, the old homestead of Thomas Mears, the Patten lot, and "The Zac. Shed Lot, 7 acres" at $210, with no buildings. Real estate $15,245.
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| April 4, 1832 | Guardian's Deed | John Baldwin of Billerica, guardian of Lucy Ann, Nathan and Elbert Mears, minor children of Nathan Mears | Gardner Parker of Billerica, yeoman | 1832 guardian's sale of the Mears mill yard lot (lot 10) to Gardner Parker | 312/59 (South) |
Billerica town book 16, pages 48-51. Licensed by the Supreme Judicial Court at Concord, the guardian sold at public vendue on March 20, 1832, to Parker as highest bidder, for $3,325.27, "Three undivided fifth parts" of the Mears saw mill and water privilege at the Canal Mills (with the rights from the Middlesex Canal deed of March 15, 1826), canal and swamp lots in Chelmsford, the Blanchard lot in Broad Meadow, and "another lot of three acres, being lot numbered Ten, on a plan and survey of said deceased's Homestead, taken by S. Livingston": from Concord River and lot 11 (sold to Joel Dix) west 20 rods to the centre of the passage way, south about 33 rods 23 links on it to a hedge fence by lot 9, east 14 rods 22 links to the river and north by the river 28 rods 4 links, "the same being used by said deceased for a mill yard", with the passage way reserved for the other lots. Acknowledged April 2, 1832; witnesses Marshall Preston and Nathaniel Stearns.
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| April 4, 1832 | Guardian's Deed | Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman, guardian of Edwin and Charles Mears, minor children of Nathan Mears | Gardner Parker of Billerica, yeoman | 1832 guardian's sale of the other shares of lot 10 to Gardner Parker | 312/63 (South) |
Billerica town book 16, pages 52-55. Under the same license and the same vendue of March 20, 1832, for $3,325.27, "two undivided fifth parts" of the same parcels, including lot 10 of the Mears homestead, the mill yard by the river.
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| April 4, 1832 | Quitclaim | Gardner Parker of Billerica, yeoman | Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman | 1832 Parker to Nathaniel Stearns, the saw mill and the Mill Yard lot | 312/69 (South) |
Billerica town book 16, pages 60-62. Dated March 21, 1832, the day after the auction. For $2,986.21, Parker quitclaims "the saw mill and water privilege lately belonging to the heirs of Nathan Mears, deceased" at the Canal Mills, with the water rights from the Middlesex Canal, the Swamp lot in Chelmsford, the Blanchard lot in Broad Meadow and "another lot of three acres, being number Ten on a plan and survey of said deceased homestead taken by S. Livingston", bounded as in the guardians' deeds, "the same being used by said deceased for a mill yard". Acknowledged April 2, 1832 before Marshall Preston; witnesses Dudley Foster and Marshall Preston.
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| 1845 | Will | Estate of Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman | Marshall Preston, executor; widow Sarah Stearns; daughters Catharine Wilson, Judith Jones and Emily Stearns | 1845 will of Nathaniel Stearns, ordering his land sold at auction | Probate #42239 |
Middlesex probate case 42239 (39 pages). Will dated August 1845: to his wife Sarah his furniture, horse and phaeton, $1,000 and the interest of $2,000 for life in place of dower; $1,000 each to his daughters Catharine Wilson (wife of John Wilson) and Judith Jones (wife of Anthony Jones) and $1,500 to Emily Stearns; the executor "shall in a reasonable time after my decease, sell and dispose of, at public auction all the property, real, personal and mixed", the residue to the widow and daughters. Executor Marshall Preston. The heirs assented to the will on Nov. 2, 1845.
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| April 14, 1846 | Executor's Deed | Marshall Preston of Billerica, executor of the will of Nathaniel Stearns | Joseph J. Salter of Billerica, carpenter | 1846 executor's sale of the second acre of the Mill Yard lot to Joseph J. Salter; Lot 8 lies in it | 481/158 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 143-145. Dated March 25, 1846, acknowledged March 28 before John Eames JP. Sold at public auction under the will, for $186.50, to Salter as highest bidder, a parcel "containing by estimation One Acre": from a stake "on the centre of the passage way" at land "this day sold to Daniel Wilson", east by Wilson's land to a stake at Concord River, north by the river about 9 1/3 rods to land "this day sold to Joel Dix", west by Dix to the centre of the passage way and south on it about 11 rods, "being the second lot from the Southerly end of said deceased's 'Mill Yard lot' so called", with the passage way reserved for the owners of the other lots on the old Mears homestead "(as shown on a plan of said homestead taken by S. Livingston)". No buildings; Salter built his house here soon after. Witnesses Edward C. Bacon and John Eames.
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| 1850 | Warranty Deed | Joseph J. Salter of Billerica (Hannah L. Salter releasing dower) | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica | 1850 Salter to C. P. and Thomas Talbot, who built Cork City on the back of the acre | 589/521 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 439-440. Dated July 31, 1850. For $250, "a tract of land situated in Billerica": from a stake on the centre of a passage way at land of Daniel Wilson, east by Wilson to a stake at Concord River, north by the river about 9 1/3 rods to land of Joel Dix, west by Dix to the centre of the passage way and south on it about 11 rods, "being the same premises conveyed to me by Marshall Preston as Executor of the last will of Nathaniel Stearns ... dated March 25th A.D. 1846 ... Book 481 Page 158", subject to the conditions of that deed. Full warranty covenants. The deed does not mention the house, but MACRIS dates the Salter house to 1846 and it stands alone on the 1853 map as the first of the Talbot mill houses.
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| October 16, 1884 | Guardian's Deed | Harriet Talbot et al., by their guardian | The Talbot Mills, Billerica | 1884 Talbot heirs by their guardian to The Talbot Mills, recited in the 1939 deed of Lot 8 | 169/468 |
Known from the grantee index 1881-1900 (Talbot Mills-Billerica, index page 82): received October 16, 1884, "N Billerica. Several parcels, water rts, mill privileges &c, see record", recorded with the deed of Thomas Talbot et al. (Book 169 Page 472). Book 169 images are unavailable at the registry; not read.
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| October 16, 1884 | Deed | Thomas Talbot et al. | The Talbot Mills, Billerica | 1884 Thomas Talbot and others to The Talbot Mills, recited in the 1939 deed of Lot 8 | 169/472 |
Known from the grantee index 1881-1900 (Talbot Mills-Billerica, index page 82): received October 16, 1884, "N Billerica. Several parcels, water rts, mill privileges &c, see record." Later Talbot Mills deeds cite it with Book 169 Page 468 as the deeds "from the Talbot heirs" to the new corporation (one recites a deed of Thomas Talbot et als. dated Oct. 15, 1884). The registry shows "Image is Unavailable" for Book 169, so the deed itself was not read; that it covered the land of the future Oval, part of the C. P. Talbot and Company property west of Wilson Street on the 1881 plan, is inferred.
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| October 9, 1939 | Quitclaim | The Talbot Mills, by Thomas T. Clark, Treasurer | Lillian Gustafson of Chelmsford | 1939 The Talbot Mills sells Lot 8 with Cork City | 934/190 |
Dated and recorded October 9, 1939; $1.50 in revenue stamps. "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon" on the south side of a right of way extending east from Wilson Street along the north side of Lots 8 and 9: north by the centre line of the right of way 229.96 feet, west by Lot 9 112.63 feet, south by the lot marked "B and L Laundry" 94.91 feet, southeast by other land of the Talbot Mills in two courses 174.85 feet; 19,820 square feet, Lot 8 on Plan "A" (Plan Book 60 Plan 25). "Being a part of the first parcel of land described in two deeds to the Talbot Mills" from Frank P. Putnam, guardian, and Thomas Talbot and others, October 15, 1884 (Book 169 Pages 468 and 472). The right of way is to be "forever kept open for the common use"; the mill reserves the common sewer and "the garage now standing on the granted premises", to be removed within 21 days. This is the sale of the six-family block called Cork City.
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| May 6, 1946 | Deed | Lillian Gustafson of Billerica (A. Samuel Gustafson, her husband, releasing) | William P. Hopkinson and Charlotte R. Hopkinson, his wife, tenants by the entirety | 1946 Gustafson to the Hopkinsons, Lots 8 and 9 | 1043/145 |
Dated May 3, 1946; $7.15 in revenue stamps. "Two certain parcels of land ... with the buildings thereon": first, Lot 9 on the southeast side of Wilson Street, 98.09 feet on the street, 8,320 square feet, which she had from Joseph Sidorovich and wife in 1940 (Book 944 Page 1); second, Lot 8, the Cork City lot, on the south side of the right of way, 19,820 square feet, Plan Book 60 Plan 25, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by The Talbot Mills by deed dated October 9, 1939 ... Book 934, Page 190."
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| May 6, 1946 | Mortgage | William P. Hopkinson and Charlotte R. Hopkinson, husband and wife, of Billerica | The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank | 1946 Hopkinson mortgage of Lot 8 | 1043/147 |
Dated May 3, 1946, recorded May 6, 1946. To secure $2,200, payable in quarterly instalments of $25 with the balance in five years at 5 percent: Lot 8 on Plan A, Plan Book 60 Plan 25, on the south side of the right of way, 19,820 square feet, "Being the same premises conveyed to us as parcel #2" in the Gustafson deed of even date. The later owners of Lot 8 took subject to this mortgage and agreed to pay it in 1954 and 1955 (the 1955 deed misprints it as Book 1043 Page 17).
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| March 14, 1986 | Quitclaim | Private owners (bought in 1977) | Paul M. Ahearn, trustee of Heather Ann Realty Trust | 1986 sale to Heather Ann Realty Trust for rehabilitation; the block burned in 1988 | 3387/143 |
Lot 8 on Plan A "with the buildings thereon", shown as "1-6 Wilson Avenue, N. Billerica", south of the right of way known as Wilson Avenue, 19,820 square feet (the deed cites Plan Book 60 Plan 23 for Plan 25); $160,000 (assessor). "Being the same premises conveyed to us by deed ... dated September 1, 1977, Book 2264, Page 186." Earlier private transfers of Cork City, all of Lot 8 "with the buildings thereon": December 1954, the Hopkinsons to a private owner (Book 1282 Page 382, under $100 cash, subject to the Lowell Five mortgage); January and February 1955, two resales (Book 1283 Pages 193 and 427); October 1968 (Book 1861 Page 493); and September 1977, $30,000 (Book 2264 Page 186). The trust mortgaged the property to Bank of New England in 1987 (Book 3942 Page 134). The block burned in 1988 while it was being rehabilitated.
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| September 19, 1990 | Foreclosure Deed | Bank of New England, N.A., Lowell, mortgagee of Heather Ann Realty Trust | S & F Properties, Inc., Boston | 1990 foreclosure of the trust's mortgage after the fire | 5334/141 |
Acknowledged August 2, 1990, recorded September 19, 1990. Massachusetts foreclosure deed by corporation: as holder of the mortgage from Paul M. Ahearn, trustee of Heather Ann Realty Trust, dated March 2, 1987 (Book 3942 Page 134), by the power of sale, for $52,323 "the premises conveyed by said mortgage", property address 1-6 Wilson Avenue. The affidavit of sale is at Book 5334 Page 139. By then the block had burned (1988).
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| April 5, 1993 | Quitclaim | S & F Properties, Inc. | Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as Receiver of New Bank of New England, N.A. | 1993 the lot passes to the FDIC as receiver of the failed bank | 6402/44 |
Dated March 29, 1993; consideration less than $100. "the land with the buildings thereon located at 1-6 Lights Lane (formerly known as Wilson Avenue)", Exhibit A: Lot 8 on Plan A, Plan Book 60 Plan 25, 19,820 square feet. "For Grantor's title, see deed dated August 2, 1990 ... Book 5334, Page 141." Signed by Christopher Davies for S & F Properties; the FDIC acted through RECOLL Management Corporation after the failure of the Bank of New England.
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| April 5, 1993 | Quitclaim | Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as Receiver of New Bank of New England, N.A., by RECOLL Management Corporation | GO-JO Realty Trust (declaration of January 24, 1993, Book 6317 Page 55) | 1993 sale of the Cork City site, then vacant | 6402/48 |
Dated March 29, 1993; $15,000. "the land with the buildings thereon located at 1-6 Lights Lane (formerly known as Wilson Avenue)", Lot 8 on Plan A (Exhibit A). Title by the deed of the same date recorded just before (Book 6402 Page 44). The assessor classed the lot as vacant at this sale.
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| December 1, 1993 | Quitclaim | Trustee of GO-JO Realty Trust | Private owners, as tenants in common | 1993 sale of the new house on the Cork City site | 6818/166 |
Dated November 29, 1993; $125,000. "the land with the buildings thereon located at 1-6 Lights Lane (formerly known as Wilson Avenue)", Lot 8 on Plan A; the buyers already gave their address as 3 Lights Lane. "For Grantor title see deed dated March 29, 1993 ... Book 6402, Page 48." The trust built the present house (assessor: 1993) between April and November 1993. Later private transfers: 2000 (assessor reference 1104/236) and 2001 (Book 11407 Page 89) within the family, 2002 sale for $207,500 (Book 12757 Page 279), and 2005 sale for $325,000 (Book 18794 Page 170, the current deed).
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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.