Elizabeth Road
Elizabeth Road
| Location | Map |
| Neighborhood | Orchard Manor |
| Laid Out | 1953 |
| Right of Way | 38 ft |
| Pavement | 25 ft |
Elizabeth Road is the principal street of Orchard Manor, north of Wyman Road in South Billerica. It leaves Wyman Road, runs northwest along the southwest side of the development, turns, and comes back southeast to end at Matthew Road, a loop of about 3,500 feet around Jeffrey Road; the directory of 1957 describes it "From Wyman rd to 12 Matthew rd." Susan Drive branches from it near Wyman Road. It was laid out on "Orchard Manor, Plan of Land in Billerica, Mass.," dated June 16, 1953 and drawn by Dana F. Perkins and Sons, Inc., civil engineers and surveyors, of Reading, approved by the Planning Board on August 10, 1953 subject to a statement of conditions, and recorded on August 14, 1953 (Plan Book 83, Plan 49). Billerica Homes, Inc., in care of Dreyfus Properties, 50 Federal Street, Boston, was owner and developer; it had bought the 132-acre farm of Harry Dunlap Brown on July 29, 1953, and the land was also registered in the Land Court on a plan of August 1, 1953 (case 24522). Elizabeth, Jeffrey, Matthew and Susan, the given names chosen for the four new streets of the plan, have not been traced to any person; their origin has not been found. Most of the houses were built when the development opened: the assessors date nearly all the original houses on the street to 1952 through 1954, though the land was bought and the plan approved only in the summer of 1953.
In the 1950s the development was known as "Billerica Gardens"; the directory of 1957 describes "Billerica Gardens, Section off Wyman rd including Matthew rd, Lindsay rd extn, Susan dr, Elizabeth rd and Jeffrey rd." In 1954 the Board of Health reported that the "largest of the drainage problems" in town was "the presently existing one in the Billerica Gardens project on Wyman Road." The annual town meeting of 1956 was asked to accept Elizabeth Road as a town way and to spend $2,500 to improve it, with like articles for the other streets, but none was adopted, and an article of 1957 to accept the streets once "Billerica Homes, an agency of the Federal Housing Administration" agreed to pay up to $7,000 for "a complete patch job and a complete armor coat" has no recorded result.
By 1960 the Federal Housing Administration had taken over the project and contracted with George Brox Company "to reconstruct storm drains and improve streets." At the annual town meeting of March 19, 1960, after officers of the Administration explained the work, the town accepted the development's sewage treatment plant lot and the dedicated land, and accepted as public town ways, "located in Billerica Homes subdivision off Wyman Road," Elizabeth Road, Jeffrey Road, Lindsay Road, Matthew Road and Susan Drive. Elizabeth Road (Article 69) was the most debated: a motion for indefinite postponement failed, the vote to accept it was reconsidered and a motion to make acceptance conditional on completion of the Brox contract was offered, and in the end the article was "accepted as written in the warrant."
The Billerica Homes sewage treatment plant on Wyman Road served about 150 houses in 1970 and was closed and dismantled in August 1978. The streets of the development were overlaid under the town's paving contract 01-R01 in 2001.
References
- Billerica report 1954: Board of Health, drainage problem in the Billerica Gardens project on Wyman Road
- Billerica report 1955: warrant articles to accept and improve Elizabeth Road and the other Billerica Gardens streets
- Billerica report 1955: warrant Article 50, dedication of land in the Billerica Gardens housing development
- Billerica report 1956: warrant Article 72, conditional acceptance of the Billerica Homes streets
- Billerica report 1959: warrant for 1960, acceptance of Elizabeth Road in Billerica Homes subdivision
- Billerica report 1960: March 19, 1960 town meeting, FHA explains Billerica Homes project; streets accepted, Arts. 68-74
- Billerica report 1970: Billerica Homes Sewerage Treatment Plant, Wyman Road, 150 residences
- Billerica report 1978: Billerica Homes Wastewater Treatment Plant closed and disassembled
- Billerica report 2001: Engineering, Contract 01-R01 roads overlaid, incl. the Orchard Manor streets
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 29, 1953 | Deed | A Boston conveyancer (private owner for one day; not named) | Billerica Homes, Inc., of Boston | 1953 Brown farm to Billerica Homes, Inc., land of the Orchard Manor plan | 1230/169 |
On July 29, 1953 Harry Dunlap Brown and Blanche L. Brown sold the whole 132-acre farm "with the buildings thereon" (Book 1230 Page 168, subject to the 1935 electric pole easement and the 1951 Northeastern Gas Transmission Co. right of way, Book 1171 Page 453) to a Boston buyer, who the same day conveyed "a certain parcel of land situated on Wyman Road in the Southerly part of the Town of Billerica," the west side of the road, "Containing 50.696 acres," to Billerica Homes, Inc., a Boston development company, and the east tract to another buyer (Book 1230 Page 174). The deed to Billerica Homes runs along Wyman Road but steps around a lot "South 82-07-10 West, 100.00 feet; South 7-52-50 East 183.53 feet and North 82-07-10 East, 100.00 feet to Wyman Road": 18,353 square feet, the lot of the old house, which was kept out of the development and sold in 1955 to private owners (Plan Book 83 Plan 49). Later owners of the house lot are private.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.