Dale Community Church
Dale Community Church
| Address | 7 Marshall St |
| Built | 1930 |
| Tenants | |
| Billerica Discovery Center (2003 - 2005) | |
The Dale Community Church was a small Congregational church on the north corner of Marshall Street and Tremont Road in Nuttings Lake Park, the summer cottage colony laid out around Nutting's Pond in 1910. Its concrete block building, with a wooden wing toward Tremont Road, still stands at 7 Marshall Street, where the assessor still classes it as a church.
The four lots were cut from the old Crosby farm on the south shore of Nutting's Pond. William Crosby, who died in 1754, left his Billerica lands to his sons Jesaniah, Hezekiah and Seth. On February 10, 1790 Hezekiah Crosby sold his son Jeremiah, for 200 pounds, "the one half" of his farm with "the one half of the buildings," running from Samuel Blanchard's wall westerly "to Nuttings pond so called" and back to "the road leading from Billerica to Lexington," and by his will of 1800, proved in 1817, he left Jeremiah all his real estate. Jeremiah in turn left "all my Real Estate" to his son Jeremiah by a will of 1815, proved in December 1821. On January 24, 1842 the younger Jeremiah Crosby sold Leander Crosby, for $2,000, "the one undivided half of my farm," bounded by Nutting's Pond, the land of Elijah B. Hill, the Seth Crosby land "called the Willoughby orchard," Seth Crosby's swamp and the Middlesex Turnpike, which crossed it. Leander Crosby, who came to hold the whole farm, devised it to Frank W. Crosby, and on March 14, 1910 Frank W. Crosby sold the 54 acres west of the Turnpike, from the Turnpike "at Nutting's Pond" around to the Willoughby orchard and the swamp, to Ignatius Brand and Edward A. Burroughs of Cambridge. They put "the Crosby Lot" in trust with George H. Shields of Boston, "to be sold in house lots," and it was laid out that April as Plan A of Nuttings Lake Park; in March 1913 Shields released the unsold lots to them, and they deeded them to the Suburban Land Company.
The lot is made up of four house lots, numbers 257 to 260, on "Nuttings Lake Park, Plan 'A'," drawn by C. A. Thayer in April 1910 for the Billerica Land Company. In 1913 Ignatius Brand and Edward A. Burroughs of Cambridge deeded the unsold lots of the plan to the Suburban Land Company, Inc., of Boston, and on March 22, 1915 the company sold lots 257 and 258, 5,000 square feet, to Martha Jane McCray of West Somerville. She and her husband Alexander also held the two lots next to them, and in June 1917, then living in Wilmington, Delaware, they sold lots 259 and 260 to William C. Lewis.
The church began when the Massachusetts Congregational Conference and Missionary Society, the state body of the Congregational churches, bought the lots. Martha McCray deeded it lots 257 and 258 on January 6, 1930, and William C. Lewis, then of Revere, lots 259 and 260 on January 20, 1932, giving the society a lot 100 feet square. The assessor dates the building to about 1930. The church does not appear in the directories of the 1930s and 1940s; the 1957 directory lists the "Dale Community Church, Marshall st NL" among the churches of Billerica. In 1963 the Rev. Howard Andrews "of the Dale Community Church of Nuttings Lake" offered the invocation at town meeting, and in 1968 the invocation was given by the Rev. Lloyd Martin, "Pastor of the Community Congregational Church in Pinehurst, and Dale Community Church, Nuttings Lake," the two churches then sharing a minister. No source found explains the name; the Rev. J. Harold Dale, pastor of the First Congregational Church of Billerica for fifty years until 1953, died in 1959, and the hall added to his own church in 1955 is named Dale Parish Hall for him.
In November 1959 the conference, by then the Massachusetts Congregational Christian Conference, petitioned the Land Court to register its title, on a plan by the surveyor James B. Monahan made in April 1958. The court's decree of September 29, 1961 confirmed the conference as owner of the lot, 100 feet on Marshall Street and 100 feet on Tremont Road, and the plan filed with the certificate shows the L-shaped concrete block church on it.
The conference became the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ in 1980, and on September 10, 1980 it sold the building to a private owner, who placed it in a realty trust the next month. The assessor records that the building housed a day care center from the 1980s to 2004 and then a karate school. It was sold in 2004, 2013 and 2014, and since 2014 it has belonged to a nonprofit association. The assessor's note that the building "was old R.C. church" is not borne out by the deeds, which show the lot in Congregational hands from 1930 to 1980; the Catholic chapel of the lake colony was St. Mary's of the Lake Church on Water Street.
References
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1754 | Will | Estate of William Crosby of Billerica, gentleman (died Jan. 1, 1754) | His sons Jesaniah, Hezekiah and Seth Crosby (the elder), executors Jesaniah and Hezekiah | William Crosby will: the lands by Nutting's Pond to his sons | Probate #5383 |
Will dated Dec. 31, 1753, proved Jan. 21, 1754. To his widow Hannah "the one half of my Dwelling house (viz) the East End thereof" for life; "I give unto my three well Beloved Sons Jesaniah, Hezekiah and Seth Crosby all my Real Estate in Lands Situate and Lying in Billerica and Bedford ... and also all my Buildings", equally; his Townsend lands to son William; legacies to his daughters and Cutler grandchildren. The will and inventory also list enslaved people, a woman named Jenney left to the widow, a man named Robin left to the three sons, and a boy of thirteen appraised at 400 pounds. Inventory of Feb. 6, 1754 (old tenor): "the Home place where the House Stands containing 25 Acres with the Orchard", "the Great peice South of the Barn containing 105 Acres by measure", Bedford land, "a small Lott Joyning to Nuttings Pond" and more, 10,269 pounds in all. The earliest record of the land on the road to Bedford that became Seth Crosby's farm.
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| November 7, 1800 | Deed | Hezekiah Crosby of Billerica, yeoman (Lucy his wife releasing dower) | His son Jeremiah Crosby of Billerica, yeoman | Hezekiah Crosby sells his son Jeremiah half the farm by the pond | 136/465 (South) |
Signed February 10, 1790, recorded 1800 (Billerica town book 10, pages 39-40). For 200 pounds, "the one half of the lots of land hereafter described ... with the one half of the buildings thereon": beginning at the corner of the wall on land of Samuel Blanchard, "westerly on said Blanchards land to Nuttings pond so called," by the pond to the Widow Shed, southerly by John Blanchard and Josiah Bowers, easterly to Seth Crosby's land and the road, and "to the road leading from Billerica to Lexington"; also lots east of that road, a two-acre lot by John Bacon and Seth Crosby, a lot by the road over Wyman's Bridge, and a third of a pew. The Crosby farm on the south shore of the pond, later the Crosby lot of Nuttings Lake Park.
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| 1817 | Will | Estate of Hezekiah Crosby of Billerica | His son Jeremiah Crosby, executor | Hezekiah Crosby will: all real estate to Jeremiah | Probate #5336 |
Will dated March 10, 1800 (witnesses Abel Bowman, Seth Crosby Jr.), proved 1817: his wife Lucy the household furniture and half the garden north of the dwelling house, with his wife and daughter Deborah the west end of the house; legacies to sons Timothy, Hezekiah and William and daughters Anna, Lucy and Achsa; "all real estate" to his son Jeremiah, executor, who was to support his mother and sister. With the 1790 deed it gave Jeremiah the whole farm by Nutting's Pond.
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| 1821 | Will | Estate of Jeremiah Crosby of Billerica, gentleman | His son Jeremiah Crosby, sole executor | Jeremiah Crosby will: all real estate to his son Jeremiah | Probate #5345 |
Will dated September 16, 1815 (witnesses Seth Crosby, Josiah Crosby Jr., Abel Bowman Jr.), proved at Cambridge December 4, 1821. His wife Lucy the furniture she brought and "the Easterly End of my Dwelling house" with his unmarried daughters Hannah and Lucy, and a seat in his pew; legacies to Abigail Hobson, Hannah and Lucy, and sons Sumner and Alonzo; "Also I give and Devise unto my said Son Jeremiah all my Real Estate wherever the same may be situated," Jeremiah to be sole executor.
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| November 11, 1851 | Deed | Jeremiah Crosby of Billerica, yeoman | Leander Crosby of Billerica, yeoman | Jeremiah Crosby sells Leander Crosby half the farm | 619/61 (South) |
Signed January 24, 1842 before Marshall Preston, recorded November 11, 1851 (Billerica town book 19, pages 153-155). For $2,000, "the one undivided half of my farm situate in said Billerica": from the Lexington road by Wm. Mann's land "to Nutting's pond so called," by the pond to Elijah B. Hill, southerly "to the end of the wall by land of Josiah Hill now deceased," easterly "to land of Seth Crosby called the Willoughby orchard," by Seth's land and "Seth's swamp" to the Middlesex Turnpike, "thence crossing the Turnpike," by Seth's land to "the lane leading to said Seth Crosby's" and the Lexington road; also halves of a piece south of that lane, a piece east of the Lexington road, the Blanchard meadow at Wyman bridge, the Wheeler meadow and the Crosby plain of 48 acres. No title recital (Jeremiah held under his father's will, probate 5345).
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| March 14, 1910 | Warranty Deed | Frank W. Crosby of Billerica (Henrietta E. Crosby, his wife, releasing dower and homestead) | Ignatius Brand and Edward A. Burroughs, both of Cambridge | Frank W. Crosby sells the 54-acre Crosby lot to Brand and Burroughs | 447/240 |
Dated March 14, 1910, for one dollar and other valuable consideration: "Beginning at the westerly side of the Middlesex Turnpike at Nutting's Pond, so called, thence by said pond to land formerly of Elijah B. Hill," southerly "to the end of the wall by land formerly of Josiah Hill," easterly "to land formerly of Seth Crosby, called the Willoughby orchard," by that land and "a swamp formerly of Seth Crosby" to the Turnpike and by the Turnpike to the start, "Containing fifty four acres, more or less, and being a portion of the premises formerly owned by Leander Crosby and by him devised to Frank W. Crosby, the grantor herein." The same bounds as the west part of the 1842 deed. The Crosby lot became Plan A of Nuttings Lake Park.
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| March 14, 1910 | Mortgage | Ignatius Brand and Edward A. Burroughs, both of Cambridge | Lawrence C. Swain of Wilmington | Brand and Burroughs mortgage of the Crosby lot | 447/244 |
Dated and recorded March 14, 1910, for $7,000, "That portion of the Crosby Lot, so called" at Nutting's Pond, with the other parcels the grantors bought that day, "with the buildings thereon." Partial releases are noted in the margin (Book 449 Page 554, Book 450 Page 300, Book 451 Page 409, Book 453 Page 427) as lots were sold. The 1913 release of the unsold lots was made subject to this mortgage.
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| April 8, 1910 | Trust Deed | Ignatius Brand and Edward A. Burroughs, both of Cambridge | George H. Shields of Boston, as trustee | Crosby lot put in trust to be sold in house lots | 447/587 |
Recorded April 8, 1910, for one dollar: "That portion of the Crosby Lot, so called," at Nutting's Pond, "part of the premises formerly owned by the late Leander Crosby, and containing 54.15 acres"; the Stearns lot of 30 acres; the Winship lot of 30 acres on the old Turnpike; and "a certain portable camp or bungalow." In trust "for the benefit of the said grantors": "The said property is to be sold in house lots by the said grantors," the trustee to give deeds as they jointly order in writing, the proceeds to be paid equally to Brand and Burroughs.
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| November 28, 1910 | Deed and Declaration of Trust | Adolph A. Brand of Boston | George H. Shields of Boston, as trustee | Crosby lot reconveyed in trust as Nuttings Lake Park Plan A | 459/495 |
Recorded November 28, 1910, after a request of Brand and Burroughs (acknowledged November 26, 1910) that Shields convey the property to Adolph A. Brand. For one dollar Adolph A. Brand reconveys to Shields as trustee "Part of that portion of the Crosby lot, so called," at Nuttings Pond, "part of the premises formerly owned by the late Leander Crosby, and containing 54.15 acres ... and as appears on a plan, called Plan 'A' Nuttings Lake Park" (Plan Book 27, Plan 57), except lots 21, 22, 312 and 313 already sold, with parts of the Stearns lot (Plan C) and the Winship lot (Plan B). Shields named this record as his Declaration of Trust in 1913.
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| March 31, 1913 | Quitclaim Deed | George H. Shields of Boston, as Trustee under the Declaration of Trust, Book 459 Page 495 | Ignatius Brand and Edward A. Burroughs, both of Cambridge | trustee releases the unsold Plan A lots incl. 257-260 | 502/301 |
Dated and acknowledged in Boston March 12, 1913, recorded March 31, 1913, for one dollar: release of Plan A lots including "229 to 260 both inclusive" on "Nuttings Lake Park, Plan 'A'" (Plan Book 27, Plan 57), with the trustee's rights in the streets, "meaning to convey hereby all my rights, title and interest, as such trustee, to all of said property that I have not conveyed previously," "Subject to a mortgage dated March 14, 1910," Book 447, Page 244. The next deed on the page does the same for Plan B. The same day the grantors deeded the lots to the Suburban Land Company (Book 502, Page 310).
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| 1913 | Quitclaim Deed | Ignatius Brand and Edward A. Burroughs, both of Cambridge | Suburban Land Company, Inc., of Boston | Suburban Land Company acquires the unsold Plan A lots, including 257-260 | 502/310 |
"Know all Men by these Presents that we, Ignatius Brand and Edward A. Burroughs, both of Cambridge ... in consideration of One Dollar and other valuable considerations paid by Suburban Land Company, Inc. a corporation organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and having a usual place of business in Boston ... do hereby remise, release, and forever quitclaim" the unsold lots of Nuttings Lake Park: on Plan A (Plan Book 27, Plan 57) lots 6, 8, 9, 15, 18-20a, 24, 27-29, 58-139, 148-149a, 154, 155, 160-165, 168-222, 229-261, 263-265, 273-274a, 275-311, 318-323, 326-373, 375, 375a and 376 to 774 inclusive; lots of Plan B (Plan Book 27, Plan 34) and of a third plan. It follows on the same page a deed of Edward A. Burroughs and Martha Burroughs to the company, signed March 19, 1913 and recorded March 31, 1913. Book 502, Pages 310 to about 312 (end of the deed not read). Cited as the title of the Plan A lots in 1964 and 1970.
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| March 24, 1915 | Quitclaim Deed | Suburban Land Company, Inc., of Boston, by Edward A. Burroughs, Treasurer | Martha Jane McCray of 9 Bowers Avenue, West Somerville | lots 257-258 sold to Martha J. McCray | 535/89 |
Dated March 22, 1915, "in consideration of One Dollar and other valuable considerations," the company quitclaims "two lots of land situated in Billerica ... numbered two hundred fifty-seven (257) and two hundred fifty-eight (258)" on "Nuttings Lake Park, Plan A, dated April, 1910 and made by C. A. Thayer, C.E." (Plan Book 27, Plan 57), "said lots in all containing 5,000 square feet, more or less. For title see Book 502, Page 310," covenanting against encumbrances made by itself only. Half of the lot on which the Dale Community Church was later built.
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| July 12, 1917 | Quitclaim Deed | Alexander McCray and Martha McCray, both of Wilmington, Delaware | William C. Lewis of Orangeburg, Rockland County, New York | McCrays sell lots 259-260 to William C. Lewis | 575/409 |
Dated June 20, 1917 and acknowledged in New Castle County, Delaware, for one dollar, the McCrays quitclaim "two lots of land situated in Billerica ... numbered 259 and 260" on Nuttings Lake Park Plan A (Plan Book 27, Plan 57), "in all containing 5,000 square feet, more or less. For title see Book 502, page 310," with warranty against their own acts and release of dower and homestead. Pages 409-410; the top of page 409 holds an unrelated mortgage. The other half of the later church lot.
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| February 3, 1930 | Quitclaim Deed | Martha Jane McCray of Somerville (Alexander McCray, her husband, releasing curtesy) | Massachusetts Congregational Conference and Missionary Society, Boston | Congregational conference buys lots 257-258 for the church | 786/331 |
Dated January 6, 1930, acknowledged January 24 and recorded February 3, 1930, for consideration paid, to "the Massachusetts Congregational Conference and Missionary Society (a corporation established by law in Suffolk County) with QUITCLAIM COVENANTS two lots of land in Billerica ... numbered respectively 257 and 258" on "Nuttings Lake Park, Plan 'A', dated April 1910" (Plan Book 27, Plan 57), "in all containing 5,000 square feet, more or less, and being the same premises conveyed to me by the Suburban Company, Inc., by deed dated March 2, 1915," Book 535, Page 89. Pages 331-332. The start of the Dale Community Church on Marshall Street.
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| May 29, 1939 | Warranty Deed | William C. Lewis of Revere, unmarried | Massachusetts Congregational Conference and Missionary Society of Massachusetts | Congregational conference buys lots 259-260 | 929/415 |
Signed and acknowledged at Revere on January 20, 1932 but recorded only on May 29, 1939, for consideration paid, "with WARRANTY COVENANTS two lots of land ... in Billerica ... numbered two hundred fifty-nine (259) and two hundred sixty (260)" on "Nuttings Lake Park Plan A dated April 1910" (Plan Book 27, Plan 57), "in all containing 5,000 square feet, more or less. For title see Book 575, Page 409." With lots 257 and 258, bought in 1930, it made the conference's lot 100 feet square at Marshall Street and Tremont Road.
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| November 27, 1959 | Notice of Land Court Petition | Land Court (petition of the Massachusetts Congregational Conference and Missionary Society) | To all whom it may concern | conference petitions to register the church lot | 1460/258 |
Notice that the Massachusetts Congregational Conference and Missionary Society, "a Massachusetts corporation of Boston," filed a petition in the Land Court in November 1959 to have its title to land in Billerica "registered and confirmed," bounded by Tremont Road and by lands of Moores, Hann and Schreib. Indexed under the society as "Tremont Rd & Marshall St once Pine Rd pl by James Monahan April 12 1958." Land Court case 29575; the decree followed in 1961 (Certificate 12142).
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| October 2, 1961 | Original Certificate of Title | Land Court decree, case 29575 (September 29, 1961) | Massachusetts Congregational Christian Conference, a religious corporation of Boston | Land Court certificate to the Congregational conference | Ctf 12142 |
"In the matter of the Petition of Massachusetts Congregational Christian Conference, numbered 29575," the court decreed on September 29, 1961 that the conference, "a religious corporation located in Boston," owns in fee the parcel bounded "Southeasterly by the northwesterly line of Marshall Street one hundred (100) feet; Southwesterly by Tremont Road one hundred (100) feet," northwesterly by James C. Moores et al 100 feet, northeasterly by Eric C. Hann et al 50 feet, then by a 2.40 by 21.10 foot jog along other land of the conference, and northeasterly by George E. Schreib et al 28.90 feet, as shown on the plan of James B. Monahan, surveyor, dated April 12, 1958 and August 14, 1961 (LC plan 30922-A), with rights in Tremont Road. Owner's address 14 Beacon Street, Boston. Received for transcription October 2, 1961. Cancelled in 1980 by Certificate 23996.
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| September 10, 1980 | Transfer Certificate of Title | Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ, formerly the Massachusetts Congregational Christian Conference | A private owner of Billerica | conference sells the former church | Ctf 23996 |
Transfer certificate issued September 10, 1980 at 2:33 PM "From Original Certificate No. 12142," for the same lot on Marshall Street and Tremont Road (100 by 100 feet, LC plan 30922-A), on the conference's sale of the former Dale Community Church. The same day the conference registered its change of name from the Massachusetts Congregational Christian Conference to the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ (Document 80577). Cancelled in October 1980 by Certificate 24070.
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| October 22, 1980 | Transfer Certificate of Title | The 1980 private owner | The same owner as Trustee of J and P Realty Trust (declaration of October 16, 1980, Document 80895) | realty trust; day care and karate school, later sales summarized | Ctf 24070 |
Transfer certificate of October 22, 1980 from Certificate 23996, same bounds, the northwest jog still "by land now or formerly of Massachusetts Congregational Christian Conference." The trust leased the building in 1988 and mortgaged it several times; the town took it for 1991 taxes (instrument of taking, June 8, 1992, redeemed). The assessor records a day care center there from the 1980s to 2004 and a karate school from 2005. The trust sold it in June 2004 (deed Document 225338, Certificate 37370), and it was sold again in 2013 (Certificate 41522) and 2014 (Certificate 42060) to the present owner, a nonprofit association.
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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.