Liberty Drive
Liberty Drive
| Old Names | Hillcrest Street (1927 - 2011) |
| Renamed | Hillcrest Street to Liberty Drive, Jan. 2, 1989 (Street Renaming of 1988-1991) |
| Location | Map |
| Neighborhood | Rio Vista |
| Laid Out | 1927 |
| Right of Way | 30 - 40 ft |
| Pavement | 14 - 28 ft |
Liberty Drive runs about 1,900 feet through the Rio Vista section, from Pelham Street near the Concord River southwest to Juniper Street and a short way beyond. Until 1989 it was part of Hillcrest Street. Hillcrest Street was laid out on "Section A" of "Rio Vista, Billerica, Mass.," the plan dated July 1, 1927 by George H. Wetherbee Jr., civil engineer, of Boston and Braintree (Plan Book 51, Plan 49, recorded February 16, 1928), and on the plan of the whole development dated June 4, 1928 (Plan Book 52, Plan 58, recorded August 9, 1928), which carried it northeast to Pelham Street. On the plans it was a long, winding street: from Pelham Street it ran southwest, meeting Rio Vista, Dyer, Brandon and Juniper Streets, then around the circular Block 10 and south past Larchwood Street to the Chelmsford Road, as Nashua Road was then called. The plans do not explain the name, which was used for streets in other parts of Billerica as well.
Billerica had three streets named Hillcrest Street, and the Board of Selectmen renamed all of them on November 14, 1988, effective January 2, 1989, in its program to remove duplicate street names. In Rio Vista, Hillcrest Street "From Pelham St. to Birch Path, beyond Juniper Street" became Liberty Drive, and the stretch "From Larchwood Street to Nashua Road" became Comet Lane. The reason for the new name was not recorded.
The town probably meant this street when it voted in 1974 to proceed with sewer Contract 21, "the first phase of the sewer to be installed on Nashua Road, Hillcrest Street, Dyer Street to New England Nuclear," with a grant of up to $150,000 from the New England Nuclear Corporation. Hillcrest Street was graded in 1979 and was among the five Rio Vista streets proposed for acceptance at the fall town meeting of 1980, but it was not accepted then. The fall town meeting voted on October 13, 2011 (Article 34) to "accept Liberty Drive from Pelham Street, south 360 feet more or less." In 2015 a new twelve-inch water main was laid on Rio Vista Street from Treble Cove Road to Liberty Drive.
References
- Billerica annual report 1974, Article 9: sewer Contract 21 on Nashua Road, Hillcrest Street and Dyer Street to New England Nuclear
- Billerica annual report 1988: renames voted Nov. 14, 1988, Hillcrest Street to Liberty Drive (Pelham St. to Birch Path) and Comet Lane
- Billerica annual report FY2012: fall town meeting Oct. 13, 2011 accepts Liberty Drive from Pelham Street south 360 feet
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 13, 1927 | Quitclaim Deed | Richard C. Moran | Rio Vista Co., a Massachusetts corporation | July 1927 deed of Richard C. Moran to the Rio Vista Co.: 203.27 acres on the 1871 plan of the estate of Lucy F. Foster and a parcel marked B. J. Judkins, the land of the Rio Vista plans | 752/55 |
Signed July 11, 1927, recorded July 13, 1927 (grantee index), "for consideration paid." "Two adjoining parcels of land shown as a parcel containing 203.27 acres and parcel marked B. J. Judkins on Plan entitled Plan of the Estate of Lucy F. [H.] Foster, Billerica, Mass., dated 1871, by R. W. Baker, C. E." (Plan Book 32 Plan 52), beginning "at the most Southerly corner of the granted premises on the Westerly side of the Concord River and the Easterly side of the Western Road," with the "Peter Hill" lot of 3.27 acres and the "Wood Lot" of 31.08 acres on the Judkins plan of 1883 (Plan Book 32 Plan 55). "For title, see deed from Elsa V. Johnson recorded herewith." Subject to a mortgage to Philip F. Coleman for $12,000. The Rio Vista Company mortgaged the land to the Highland Trust Company of Somerville and laid it out as Rio Vista (Plan Book 52 Plan 58, June 4, 1928).
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.