Howe High School
Howe High School
| Also Known As | Billerica Town Hall |
| Address | 365 Boston Rd |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.395 |
| Built | 1915 |
| Other Lot Structures | Hallenborg Ice Rink (Built 1972) |
Howe High School is a two-story brick Colonial Revival school building on the west side of Boston Road at 365 Boston Road in Billerica Center, set back on a rise across the road from the old Howe School of 1852. Built in 1915 and 1916 to replace the overcrowded old school, it was the town's high school until 1955, then the Howe Junior High School and later a school for the high school's lower grades and for elementary classes until 1981. Since 1986 its old gymnasium and shops have held the Central Fire Headquarters on Good Street, and since 1989 the building has been the Billerica Town Hall. A date stone at the northeast corner reads 1915, the pediment over the front door is inscribed "Howe High School," and a plaque in the parapet reads "Town Hall."
The lot was the south end of the estate later called Bennett Hall, the land between the highway and the Concord River just north of the Common. Dr. Jacob Kittredge put the farm together in 1806, buying forty acres from the estate of William Baldwin and a three-acre front lot from the estate of Oliver and Mary Baldwin that ran 44 rods back from "the road from Billerica to Chelmsford" at the corner of James Sumner's land, probably the south part of the later school lot. In 1811 Kittredge sold "about forty eight acres ... with all the buildings thereon" to Joseph Blake of Boston, and after Blake's death his executor sold the farm at auction in 1821 to Joshua Bennett of Boston, who also bought the dower house of Blake's widow, Huldah. Bennett's daughters and their husbands gave the homestead in 1865 to his grandson Joshua Bennett Holden, and in 1892 Holden gave it to his son of the same name.
By 1914 the old Howe School, with only three rooms, could not hold the high school, and science classes had been moved into the top story of the Pollard School. A special Town Meeting on February 13, 1915 appointed a committee of Dr. Maurice A. Buck, Charles H. Eames and Burton O. Sanford to study the problem. Its report proposed one building for the high school and the seventh and eighth grades and named three possible sites: about five acres of William H. Sexton south of the Whiting estate on Bedford Road, offered at $5,000; the thirty-acre Sawyer estate on Main Street, offered at $6,000; and twenty acres of John H. Foster and William H. Haynes at the end of Farmer's Lane, offered at $1,000. At the annual Town Meeting of March 27, 1915, the voters, 128 to 42, authorized the town to borrow $90,000 "for the purpose of acquiring land for and the construction of a school building for the High School," defeated a motion "that the selection of the site be made by the Town and not by the Building Committee," and added Nathaniel R. Jones and Thomas T. Clark to the committee to make a building committee of five, with Eames as chairman and Clark as secretary.
After a hearing on May 6, 1915, the committee chose none of the three sites but "the land immediately south of Bennett Hall, on Main Street, comprising 6.8 (approx.) acres, with a frontage of 267 feet." On May 28 Holden deeded the whole Bennett Hall estate to Fred W. Fisher of Medford, subject to a $10,000 mortgage of 1913 to Fred H. Williams of Brookline. On June 30, 1915 Williams discharged the mortgage, and the same afternoon Fisher, "being unmarried, for consideration paid," deeded to the Town "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon," running back from Main Street along the land of Albert W. Proctor and Martin Lane and "containing two hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and seventeen (299,917) square feet," as on a plan of June 1915 by Smith and Brooks of Lowell. The town paid $6,000. Fisher kept the right to remove within a year "the two buildings on said premises situated one on Main street and one near Main street on the line of Albert W. Proctor's land." The plan shows an apple orchard over the front half of the lot and a tennis court beside the Bennett Hall drive. In 1919 Fisher deeded the rest of the estate back to Holden.
The committee engaged the Boston architects Brainerd and Leeds and gave the general contract to John W. Duff, Inc. of Boston, with Huey Brothers on heating and ventilating, William H. Mitchell and Son Company on plumbing and the Clark and Mills Electric Company on wiring, all of Boston. Work began in August 1915, and on November 22, 1915 the cornerstone was laid. Into a copper box in the stone went a copy of the Lowell Courier-Citizen, the address given at the dedication of the old Howe School in 1852, the town meeting records of 1915, "copy of the deed of the land from Frederick Fischer to the Town of Billerica, and the copy of the release from Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Hubbard to the Town of Billerica," and photographs of the old school, and each pupil laid a brick in the front wall. The building was of "red New Hampshire brick and gray cast stone ... combined in Colonial design made in the spirit of the best buildings of the same style in the Town." Because of an epidemic of infantile paralysis and the unfinished work, school did not open until October 16, 1916, when the two seventh grades, the two eighth grades and the four high school classes moved in. The building was dedicated on December 8, 1916, with addresses by J. Nelson Parker, president of the Howe School trustees, and Payson Smith, the state Commissioner of Education. The final cost was $90,076.84, including $61,146.91 on the general contract, $4,457.10 for the architects and $6,000 for the site.
A special Town Meeting on June 2, 1930 appropriated $140,000 for an addition. Leeds and Nally of Boston designed it, John W. Duff, Inc. built it again, and Eames again chaired the building committee. Work began on July 14, 1930, the class of 1931 graduated in the enlarged auditorium, and the building was rededicated on October 5, 1931. The two-story rear addition gave eight classrooms to the junior high school and ten to the senior high, with a library, laboratories, shop and household arts rooms, a cafeteria seating about 300, an auditorium seating about 785, and a gymnasium with locker rooms that served as the auditorium's stage. In 1939 the town bought about an acre and a half behind the school from the Associated Jewish Centers Camp (Camp Naomi), with easements for the drains of the school's filter beds.
The new Billerica Memorial High School on River Street opened on September 26, 1955, and the class of 1955 was the last to graduate from Howe High School. The building became the Howe Junior High School, for the seventh and eighth grades. In the fall of 1960 it opened with 777 pupils in a building rated for 700, and the annual Town Meeting of 1961 appropriated $623,000 for an addition and $42,000 for remodeling, and voted $15,000 to buy from Margaret T. Corcoran five lots on Good Street, part of the Woodside Manor Estates subdivision on the old Bennett Hall land, "to be used in conjunction with the building of an addition to the Howe Junior High School." The Corcorans deeded the lots to the town on June 16, 1961. The one- and two-story L-shaped addition, designed by Irving W. Hersey Associates, was finished and in full use by 1963. When the town's middle schools took the sixth through eighth grades in 1971, the "Howe Building" became the home of the ninth and tenth grades of the high school. In 1978 the ninth grade moved to the Memorial building and the Howe Building took the kindergarten and the pupils of the closed Pollard School. After Proposition 2 1/2 cut the town's budget, a study committee recommended closing "by September 1981, the Howe Building," and the school department closed it in 1981.
In 1984 Town Meeting voted $400,000 to turn the rear of the school, with the gymnasium, into a Central Fire Station, and Albert Costa Associates of Waltham designed a four-bay station with its doors facing Good Street. In June 1985 a special Town Meeting appointed a committee, chaired by Brion M. Cangiamila, "to study the cost, schedule and feasibility of converting the Howe High School to a Town Hall," and the Fall Town Meeting of October 1985 voted $21,500 for an architect's schematic plans. The new Central Fire Headquarters opened in the gymnasium and shop areas in November 1986, at a cost of $853,000. In May 1986 Town Meeting appropriated $4,500,000 "for remodeling and reconstructing a portion of the Howe High School for conversion to a municipal office building, including municipal offices, a police station, public works facilities and school administration offices," to plans by Maximilian L. Ferro of Preservation Partnership, and added $2,800,000 in 1987 and smaller sums in 1988 and 1989. R. W. Granger Construction began the work in July 1987. The town, school and public works offices moved into the new Town Hall in January 1989, the police department moved into its new station at 6 Good Street in May 1989, and the Spring Town Meeting of May 2, 1989 met in the rebuilt auditorium, named the Maurice A. Buck Memorial Auditorium. The Town Hall was dedicated on September 30, 1989. New windows were put in the old front block the same year.
The building is in the Billerica Center local historic district, established in 1990. The rebuilt Billerica Memorial High School, opened in 2019 on the land behind it, is reached by a drive along the south side of the Town Hall, and a granite memorial to the town's first responders stands on the island in front of the building.
References
- MACRIS BIL.395
- Billerica town reports 1915-1919: High School Building Committee reports of 1915 and 1916 (site, contracts, cost, cornerstone, dedication Dec. 8, 1916)
- Billerica town reports 1930-1931: the Howe High School addition by Leeds and Nally, rededicated Oct. 5, 1931
- Billerica town report 1955: Billerica Memorial High School opens Sept. 26, 1955; Howe becomes the junior high school
- Billerica town report 1960: articles for the Howe Junior High School addition and the purchase of the Corcoran lots
- Billerica town report 1981: the Howe Building closed as a school; alternative uses under discussion
- Billerica town report 1985: New Town Hall Study Committee and Central Fire Station Committee reports
- Billerica town report 1986: $4,500,000 for the town hall conversion; Central Fire Headquarters opens November 1986
- Billerica town report 1989: offices move into the new Town Hall in January 1989; dedication Sept. 30, 1989
- Wikipedia: Billerica Memorial High School (successor high school, opened 1955 and rebuilt 2017-2019)
- Billerica assessor record, 365 Boston Rd, parcel 51-17-0 (Town Hall, 8.25 acres)
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1764 | Administration, Inventory and Division | Estate of William Baldwin of Billerica, yeoman (1710-1762), intestate | Mary (Farmer) Baldwin, widow and administratrix; the heirs; in 1806 the heirs of William Baldwin the son | Estate of William Baldwin (1764), the Long Street land later sold to Jacob Kittredge | Probate #874 |
William Baldwin died Dec. 21, 1762. His widow Mary gave bond as administratrix on Feb. 27, 1764 (sureties Benjamin Lewis, Edward Farmer). The inventory of March 16, 1763 (William Stickney, Joshua Abbot Jr., Oliver Farmer) values "the Homsted of about Forty three Acres of Land with the Buildings there on Standing" at 440 pounds and 30 acres of wood west of Concord River at 30 pounds. The estate lay unsettled until May 11, 1802, when the grandson Thomas Baldwin took administration de bonis non. The committee of 1802-1803 described the house lot "on the east side of the great county road about eighty rods north of the meeting house containing about five acres, with the buildings thereon standing; bounded on the west side by said road, on the north by land of John Parker jun and on the east and south sides by land of Solomon Pollard" ($700), with 45 acres opposite running to Concord River, and reported that "the right, title and interest of all the said children has been purchased by the said William, the son," except the shares of Thomas, Oliver and Mary. After that report was disallowed, the division of Feb. 26, 1806 (accepted March 13, 1806) gave the woodlot to the heirs of Thomas and an acre and a half each to the heirs of Oliver and of Mary, and "all the rest and residue," including the house lot, to the heirs of William the son. All 25 pages read.
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| May 20, 1796 | Deed | John Baldwin of Andover, Essex County, yeoman (b. 1743/4), eldest son of William Baldwin | His brothers William Baldwin and Thomas Baldwin of Billerica, husbandmen | John Baldwin sells his share of his father William Baldwin's estate to his brothers | 122/335 (South) |
Dated March 26, 1773, acknowledged Dec. 27, 1773 before William Stickney, recorded May 20, 1796. For 40 pounds, "all my Right Title and Interest that I have or ought to have in and unto the two thirds of the real estate that was my Fathers Mr William Baldwin late of Billerica deceased lying in said town, being two shares of said estate" (the eldest son's double share) and his share of the personal estate. Witnesses William Stickney and Edward Farmer. Billerica town book 9, pages 240-241 (Southern Registry Book 122 Page 335). William Baldwin Jr. went on to buy out the other heirs, as the 1803 probate committee reported.
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| 1802 | Administration, Division and License to Sell | Estate of William Baldwin of Billerica, gentleman (1748-1802), intestate | Thomas Baldwin, sadler, his son and administrator; the heirs | Estate of William Baldwin (1802): the forty-five acres west of the road | Probate #876 |
William Baldwin, gentleman, died in April 1802. On May 11, 1802 his son Thomas Baldwin, sadler, gave bond as administrator of his estate and, because his grandmother the administratrix had died, of the unsettled estate of his grandfather William Baldwin, yeoman (probate 874). The inventory of Nov. 10, 1802 (Solomon Pollard, John Parker Jr., Jonathan P. Pollard) begins "Five Acres of Land with the Buildings on the same" $1,000, then 45 acres on the west side of the way, 28 and 7 acres of woodland and 18 acres of plow land. A first division of 1803 described "The house lot of said deceased, situated in Billerica on the east side of the great road leading through said town, about one fourth part of a Mile north of the meeting-house, containing about five acres, bounded West by said road; North by land of John Parker; east and south by land of Francis Pollard, with the buildings thereon standing"; it was disallowed on April 17, 1805. A new commission (John Walker, Jeremiah Farmer, Blaney Abbot) valued the lot on March 5, 1806 at $1,230, "about eighty rods north of the meeting-house on the East side of the great road," and allowed for Thomas's use of the place "with the repairs he has made to the House and other buildings, laying the Aqueduct." Under a license of the Court of Common Pleas (March term 1806) the whole was sold at auction on the premises on May 2, 1806: "the farm and buildings were struck off to Joseph Foster for the sum of fifteen hundred and sixty five dollars"; 40 acres went to Josiah Crosby Jr., 25 acres to Zaccheus Shed and pew No. 60 to Jonathan P. Pollard. Distribution of Jan. 19, 1807 among the children Thomas, Francis, John, Sarah, Henry and Joshua. All 43 pages read.
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| July 17, 1806 | Administrator's Deed | Thomas Baldwin of Billerica, sadler, administrator of the estate of William Baldwin, gentleman | Dr. Jacob Kittredge of Billerica, physician | Baldwin's administrator sells Dr. Jacob Kittredge forty acres between the road and the Concord River | 168/242 (South) |
Billerica town book 10, pages 369-370. Signed May 2, 1806 (witnesses Henry Putnam, Josiah Crosby Jr.), acknowledged May 21, 1806 before Joseph Locke, recorded July 17, 1806. Under a license of the Court of Common Pleas at Concord, for $1,204.12, "a certain tract of land situate in Billerica aforesaid containing forty acres and twenty two rods bounded north by land of Joshua Abbot west by Concord river south by land of John Parker, land of Stephen Parker, land of William Bowers and land set off to the heirs of Mary Baldwin and east by the land of said heirs and land set off to the heirs of Thomas Baldwin and by the great highway." No buildings are mentioned. The main body of the Bennett Hall land.
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| December 23, 1806 | Administrator's Deed | Francis Pollard of Billerica, gentleman, administrator of the estate of Oliver and Mary Baldwin late of Tewksbury | Dr. Jacob Kittredge of Billerica, physician | Kittredge buys the three-acre front lot, probably the south part of the later school lot | 169/413 (South) |
Billerica town book 10, pages 400-401. Signed Dec. 15, 1806 (witnesses Samuel Bridge, James Abbot), acknowledged Dec. 16, recorded Dec. 23, 1806. For $202.50, "a certain piece of land in Billerica aforesaid containing three acres by measure" beginning "the west side of the road leading from Billerica to Chelmsford at the northeast corner of land belonging to James Sumner," west by Sumner and William Bowers about 42 rods, north about 11 rods, east about 44 rods to the road, and south by the road about 11 rods. This is the "December 15, 1806" Pollard to Kittredge deed that the 1912 account called the earliest record of the estate; it was only the three-acre road frontage.
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| April 17, 1812 | Warranty Deed | Jacob Kittredge of Billerica, physician | Joseph Blake of Boston, Esquire | Kittredge sells the forty-eight-acre farm to Joseph Blake | 194/414 (South) |
Billerica town book 11, pages 152-153. Signed July 20, 1811, acknowledged the same day before Joseph Locke, recorded at Cambridge April 17, 1812. For $4,900 "a certain farm or tract of land situate in said Billerica" beginning at the southeast corner by land of James Sumner, north "on the highway leading from Billerica to Chelmsford" to the heirs of Deacon Abbot, west by the Abbot heirs "to Concord river," south along the river to Capt. Stephen Parker, and east by Parker, Dr. William Bowers and James Sumner to the road, "containing about forty eight acres, be the same more or less with all the buildings thereon standing." The farm that became Bennett Hall.
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| 1818 | Will | Estate of Joseph Blake, Esquire, late of Billerica | Executor George Blake of Boston; widow Huldah Blake | Will of Joseph Blake (1818) | Probate #1843 |
Middlesex probate case 1843 (53 pages). Joseph Blake's will was proved at Cambridge Aug. 25, 1818 on the oaths of witnesses Joseph Locke and Francis Shedd; the other named executor, Josiah Crosby Jr., renounced and administration was committed to George Blake of Boston, Sept. 9, 1818. The first account (July 14, 1819) shows personal estate of $1,039.25 and rent from a farm in Granville. The court later licensed the executor (Jan. 10, 1821) to sell real estate for debts, and commissioners set off to the widow Huldah Blake about three-quarters of an acre "with all the buildings thereon" as her dower.
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| June 12, 1822 | Executor's Deed | George Blake of Boston, Esquire, executor of the will of Joseph Blake | Joshua Bennett of Boston, distiller | Blake's executor sells the farm at auction to Joshua Bennett | 242/276 (South) |
Billerica town book 12, pages 279-281. Signed and acknowledged at Boston Aug. 15, 1821 (witnesses E. Gerry, Phineas Blair), recorded June 12, 1822. Under a license of Jan. 10, 1821 to sell for debts, after notice in the Independent Chronicle and Boston Patriot, the executor sold at public vendue in Billerica on July 24, 1821 to Joshua Bennett, highest bidder, for $1,171.45 "a part of the homestead estate of the said deceased," bounded "east on the County road south by land of James Sumner and land of the heirs of William Bowers deceased and land of Stephen Parker on the west by Concord river on the north by land formerly owned by Deacon Joshua Abbott and now supposed to belong to Phillip Bowers and his wife," excepting about three-quarters of an acre "with all the buildings thereon which was appraised and set off in dower to Huldah Blake the widow," "containing the quantity of forty three acres one quarter and twenty two perch by a survey taken by Samuel Whiting on the 31 of July last past."
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| June 12, 1822 | Warranty Deed | Huldah Blake of Billerica, widow of Joseph Blake | Joshua Bennett of Boston, merchant | Huldah Blake sells her dower house and land to Joshua Bennett | 242/277 (South) |
Billerica town book 12, pages 281-282; dated Sept. 1, 1821 (per the later recitals). For $1,950 "three quarters of an acre of land more or less situate in Billerica aforesaid with a dwelling house and all the other buildings standing thereon bounded easterly on the highway leading from Billerica Meeting house to Amherst and on all other sides upon land lately belonging to the estate of Joseph Blake Esq. decd and sold by his Executor to the said Bennett," referring to the committee report that set off her dower. This was the house itself: Bennett's purchase of the widow's dower lot gave him the mansion that later deeds call "formerly the homestead of Joshua Bennett."
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| 1865 | Administration | Estate of Joshua Bennett, gentleman, late of Billerica (died August 1865, intestate) | Administrators William W. Warren of Boston and George Holden of Woburn; heirs his daughters Ellen B. Holden and Rebecca B. Warren; widow Eleanor Bennett | Estate of Joshua Bennett (1865) | Probate #27296 |
Middlesex probate case 27296 (49 pages). Petition of Aug. 29, 1865 by his sons-in-law William W. Warren and George Holden: Joshua Bennett "Gentleman," who last dwelt in Billerica, died in August 1865 intestate, "leaving a widow, whose name is Eleanor Bennett," and as his only next of kin his daughters Ellen B. Holden, wife of George Holden of Woburn, and Rebecca B. Warren, wife of William W. Warren of Boston. Citation for the court at Groton on the fourth Tuesday of September 1865, published in the Boston Daily Journal; the widow waived her right to administer. Warren swore the estate did not exceed three hundred thousand dollars. The daughters, as his heirs, conveyed the homestead to grandson J. B. Holden in December 1865 (Book 58, Page 79).
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| August 7, 1867 | Deed (Gift) | George Holden and Ellen B. Holden (in her right), William W. Warren and Rebecca B. Warren (in her right), all of Boston | Joshua Bennett Holden of Boston, grandson of Joshua Bennett | Bennett's heirs give the homestead to his grandson Joshua Bennett Holden | 58/79 |
Pages 79-80, signed Dec. 12, 1865, acknowledged Dec. 16, 1865 and Feb. 20, 1866, recorded Aug. 7, 1867. For one dollar, Joshua Bennett's daughters and their husbands give his grandson "all that certain farm, mansion house and buildings situate in said Billerica formerly the homestead of the said Joshua Bennett and whereon he resided at the time of his decease," including the two 1821 Blake deeds (Middlesex South Book 242, Pages 276 and 277) and "all the lands situated and lying in said Billerica westerly of the highway leading from Lowell to Boston and between said highway and Concord river," "Saving and reserving however unto Eleanor Bennett of said Billerica widow of the said Joshua Bennett ... the sole use, occupation improvement rents and profits of the said farm, lands and buildings for & during the term of her natural life." (The 1912 Billerica account dated this gift 1866.)
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| March 5, 1892 | Quitclaim (Gift) | Joshua Bennett Holden of Boston (wife Ida L. Holden releasing dower and homestead) | His son Joshua Bennett Holden Jr. of Boston, great-grandson of Joshua Bennett | Holden gives the Bennett homestead to his son Joshua Bennett Holden | 230/586 |
Pages 586-587, signed and recorded March 5, 1892. For one dollar "all that certain farm, mansion house and buildings situated in said Billerica, formerly the homestead of the said Joshua Bennett and whereon he resided at the time of his decease," with the 1821 Blake parcels and all the land between the Lowell-Boston highway and the Concord River, "Being the same premises to me conveyed by George Holden and others, by deed dated December 12, 1865" (Book 58, Page 79). Indexed as the "Joshua Bennett Homestead." J. B. Holden Jr. held it until he put it into the Bennett Hall Trust in 1921.
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| September 2, 1913 | Mortgage | Joshua Bennett Holden of Billerica | Fred H. Williams of Brookline | J. B. Holden mortgages the Bennett Hall estate for $10,000 to Fred H. Williams, 1913 | 510/414 |
Dated August 25, 1913; recorded September 2, 1913 (index). "In consideration of Ten Thousand Dollars," with warranty covenants and the power of sale, "certain premises with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica formerly the homestead of Joshua Bennett, including the premises conveyed to said Joshua Bennett by George Blake as Executor of the will of Joseph Blake by deed dated August 15th 1821 ... book 242, page 276 and by Huldah Blake by deed dated Sept. 1st 1821 ... book 242, page 277 and including all the lands situate and lying in said Billerica westerly of the highway leading from Lowell to Boston and between said highway and Concord river," "being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of my father Joshua B. Holden, dated March 5th 1892 ... book 230, page 586"; ten thousand dollars "in six months from this date, with interest semi-annually at the rate of 6 per cent," the buildings to be insured for at least $10,000. Margin: "See Discharge B.541 P.113." Book 510, Pages 414-415.
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| June 3, 1915 | Quitclaim Deed | Joshua Bennett Holden of Billerica (Mabel B. Holden, his wife, releasing dower and homestead) | Fred W. Fisher of Medford | Joshua Bennett Holden deeds the whole Bennett Hall estate to Fred W. Fisher, May 1915 | 538/591 |
Signed May 28, 1915, acknowledged in Suffolk June 1 and recorded June 3, 1915; $5.50 in revenue stamps. "For consideration paid," with quitclaim covenants, "certain premises with the buildings thereon, formerly the homestead of Joshua Bennett, including the premises conveyed to said Joshua Bennett by George Blake, as executor of the will of Joseph Blake, by deed dated August 15th, 1821 ... Book 242, Page 276, and by Huldah Blake by deed dated September 1st, 1821 ... Book 242, Page 277, and including all the lands situate and lying in said Billerica, westerly of the highway leading from Lowell to Boston and between said highway and Concord River, however the same may be otherwise bounded or described; being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of my father, Joshua B. Holden, dated March 5, 1892 ... Book 230, Page 586." Subject to "a mortgage of Ten Thousand ($10,000) Dollars, made to Fred H. Williams on August 25, 1913." Fisher held the estate only long enough to deed the high school lot to the Town (June 30, 1915) and reconveyed the rest to Holden in 1919. Book 538, Pages 591-592.
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| June 30, 1915 | Discharge of Mortgage | Fred H. Williams of Brookline, mortgagee | Joshua Bennett Holden | The $10,000 Holden mortgage on the Bennett estate is discharged the day the town buys the school lot | 541/113 |
Fred H. Williams of Brookline, "mortgagee and present holder of a mortgage from Joshua Bennett Holden to me dated August 25th, 1913 recorded with Middlesex North District Registry of Deeds Book 510 Page 414," acknowledges "satisfaction of the same." Signed June 30, 1915, acknowledged in Boston before Harold P. Williams, notary, and recorded June 30, 1915 at 3:50 PM, one minute before the Fisher deed to the Town. Book 541, Pages 113-114.
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| June 30, 1915 | Quitclaim Deed | Fred W. Fisher of Medford, unmarried | The Town of Billerica | Fred W. Fisher deeds the town the 6.9-acre high school lot south of Bennett Hall, June 30, 1915 | 541/114 |
Signed and acknowledged at Lowell June 30, 1915 before Melvin G. Rogers, justice of the peace, recorded the same day at 3:51 PM; $6 in revenue stamps (the building committee reported paying $6,000). "Being unmarried, for consideration paid," with quitclaim covenants, "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon," beginning "at a point on the westerly side of Main street in said Billerica, at land of Albert W. Proctor; thence westerly by land of said Albert W. Proctor, four hundred eighteen and 69/100ths (418.69) feet to land of Martin Lane," westerly by Lane 294.44 feet and by other land of Lane 318.60 feet to a corner, "northerly by land of the grantor three hundred twenty-three and 93/100ths (323.93) feet," easterly 600 feet, southerly 33 feet, easterly 324.90 feet, then 33.28, 24.40, 20.07 and 49.48 feet, "all by land of the grantor, to said Main street; thence southerly by said Main street two hundred sixty-seven (267) feet to the point of beginning; containing two hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and seventeen (299,917) square feet," as on "a plan by Smith and Brooks, Civil Engineers, dated June 1915, to be recorded herewith" (Plan Book 32, Plan 61). Subject to taxes for 1913, 1914 and 1915. The grantor reserved "the right to remove or have removed from the granted premises the two buildings on said premises situated one on Main street and one near Main street on the line of Albert W. Proctor's land, within a period of one (1) year." The short courses at the northeast corner go around the Bennett Hall drive. Book 541, Pages 114-115.
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| December 27, 1919 | Quitclaim Deed | Fred W. Fisher of Winthrop (his wife, Eleanor Fisher, releasing dower and homestead) | Joshua Bennett Holden of Billerica | Fisher reconveys the rest of the Bennett Hall estate to Holden, 1919 | 617/550 |
Signed December 20, 1919, acknowledged in Suffolk before Fred H. Williams, justice of the peace, and recorded December 27, 1919. "For consideration paid," with quitclaim covenants, "certain premises with the buildings thereon, formerly the homestead of Joshua Bennett," including the two Blake deeds of 1821 (Book 242, Pages 276 and 277) "and including all the lands situate and lying in said Billerica, westerly of the highway leading from Lowell to Boston and between said highway and Concord River, however the same may be otherwise bounded or described, being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of the grantee dated May 28th, 1915 ... Book 538, Page 591." The deed makes no exception for the high school lot deeded to the Town in 1915. Book 617, Page 550.
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| October 24, 1939 | Quitclaim | The Associated Jewish Centers Camp, Inc. | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica | The town buys 1 1/2 acres behind the high school from Camp Naomi, with drain easements, 1939 | 936/555 |
Pages 555-556, recorded Oct. 24, 1939 (the later deeds date it Sept. 12, 1939 and miscite it as Book 936, Page 55). Conveys "that parcel of land situated westerly of and in the rear of other land of the grantee on a portion of which other land the Howe High School is erected," about 1 1/2 acres along the land of the heirs of Martin Lane and "along a stone retaining wall," with the restriction that no structure "(except a dosing tank to be used in connection with filter beds)" be built above ground without the camp's consent, plus easements for 8-inch and 10-inch drains along the camp's south line and its private road to a culvert, as on E. Worthington's plan of Aug. 31, 1939 (Plan Book 62, Plan 61).
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| June 16, 1961 | Quitclaim Deed | Corcoran Contracting Corporation of Burlington, by Francis A. Corcoran, Treasurer | Margaret T. Corcoran of Burlington | Corcoran Contracting Corporation passes Lots 2-6 of Woodside Manor Estates to Margaret T. Corcoran, June 1961 | 1517/254 |
Signed June 16, 1961 and recorded the same day at 2:51 PM, under a directors' vote of June 12, 1961 authorizing the treasurer to convey the five lots to Margaret T. Corcoran "upon such terms and for such consideration as he may determine." "For consideration paid," with quitclaim covenants, "a certain parcel of land situated in Billerica ... on the southerly side of Good Street, called on the plan of land hereinafter mentioned Woodside Avenue, and being shown as Lots 2-3-4-5 and 6 on a plan of land entitled 'Woodside Manor Estates, Billerica, Mass., Subdivided for Francis A. Corcoran by James B. Monahan, Surveyor, June 1956'" (Plan Book 88, Plan 15), 125,600 square feet, bounded northerly by Good Street 834 feet, easterly by Lot 1 172.6 feet, southerly and southwesterly by land of the Town of Billerica 271.99, 33 and 556.71 feet, and westerly by Lot 7 140 feet. The lots were cut from the old Bennett Hall land that Francis A. Corcoran bought in 1956. Book 1517, Pages 254-256.
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| June 16, 1961 | Quitclaim Deed | Francis A. Corcoran and Margaret T. Corcoran, his wife, in her own right, of Burlington | The Town of Billerica | The Corcorans sell the town Lots 2-6 on Good Street for the Howe Junior High School addition, $15,000 | 1517/256 |
Acknowledged June 16, 1961 and recorded the same day at 2:52 PM. "For consideration paid," with quitclaim covenants, to "the Town of Billerica, a municipal corporation," the same Lots 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on the "Woodside Manor Estates" plan of June 1956 (Plan Book 88, Plan 15), "containing according to said plan, 125,600 square feet more or less," northerly by Good Street (formerly Woodside Avenue) 834 feet, easterly by Lot 1 172.6 feet, southerly, southwesterly and southerly again by land of the Town 271.99, 33 and 556.71 feet, and westerly by Lot 7 140 feet, "subject to and with the benefit of easements and restrictions of record." The annual Town Meeting of 1961 (Article 20) had voted unanimously to raise $15,000 to buy the lots "to be used in conjunction with the building of an addition to the Howe Junior High School." Book 1517, Pages 256-257.
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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.