Rhodes Street

Rhodes Street runs northwest from Lake Street on the north shore of Nuttings Lake across South Street, Stewart Street and Friendship Street, in the cottage colony of Nuttings Lake Park. It was laid out in April 1910 on two plans drawn by C. A. Thayer, engineer, of Providence, Rhode Island, for the Billerica Land Company. On Plan B of Nuttings Lake Park (Plan Book 27, Plan 34) Rhodes Street runs from Lake Street at the shore west across South and Central Streets, between Back Street and Cady Street; on Plan C, the "Nuttings Lake Park Annex" (Plan Book 27, Plan 35, recorded May 6, 1910), it continues west across Stewart and Friendship Streets, parallel to Cady, Peace Street and Plenty Street Streets. No record explains the name, which was chosen with Cady, Peace, Plenty and Friendship on the same plans. The street guide of 1930 to 1931 gives "Rhodes (north side Nuttings Lake) from Lake northerly byd Friendship," and in another entry spells it "Rhoades."

Articles of 1935 and 1937 asked for a fire alarm box at the corner of Rhodes and Lake Streets; the first was dismissed. An article of 1939 to have "the stones and/or rocks removed from the fire lane at the foot of Rhodes Street" as a W.P.A. project was dismissed in 1940. At the annual meeting of February 9, 1946 the town voted to accept "Rhodes Street from Friendship Street to Stewart Street 350 feet" with other streets at the lake; the selectmen laid it out again for water mains on August 26, 1946, and the special town meeting of October 28, 1946 accepted their layout. The town's list of accepted streets gives "Rhodes St.--From Friendship St. to Stewart St. 2-9-46--10-28-46." The Water Department laid 603 feet of 6-inch main in it in 1947, 218 feet more on "Rhodes Street (north)" in 1951, and a main on "Central-Pine-Rhodes Streets" in 1963.

The by-law for Nuttings Lake adopted by town meeting in 1962 forbade launching motor boats between nine in the morning and six in the evening at three places, one of them "the shore at the end of Rhodes Street." In 1964 a rising vote of 112 to 32 raised $8,500 for a drain system in "the Pine Street - Central Street - Rhodes Street section of Nuttings Lake," built in 1964 and 1965. The street was hot topped in 1974 and repaved in fiscal 2003. The rest of it has not been accepted: an article of the fall town meeting of 2001 to accept "Rhodes St Stewart St to Lake St," 840 feet, and 300 feet north of Friendship Street was dismissed. Rhodes Street is not among the roads of the 1831 map accepted in 2016.

References

1. Annual town meeting, Feb. 9, 1946, Article 49: Rhodes Street from Friendship Street to Stewart Street 350 ft accepted
2. Selectmen, Aug. 26, 1946: Rhodes Street and other Nuttings Lake streets laid out for water mains
3. Special town meeting, Oct. 28, 1946, Articles 30-31: layout accepted, water mains voted
4. Water Department 1947: Nuttings Lake extension, Rhodes 602.94 ft of 6-inch pipe
5. Water main extensions 1951: Rhodes Street (north) 218 ft
6. Streets Accepted by the Town (printed 1956): Rhodes St. from Friendship St. to Stewart St. 2-9-46, 10-28-46
7. 1962 town meeting adopts Nuttings Lake by-law: no motor-boat launching at the shore at the end of Rhodes Street
8. 1964 town meeting, Article 27: $8,500 drain system for Pine, Central and Rhodes Streets, 112 to 32
9. Highway Department 1974: Rhodes Street hot topped with bituminous concrete
10. Fall 2001 town meeting warrant, Article 25: accept parts of Rhodes Street (dismissed)
11. Engineering Division FY2003: Rhodes St among roads repaved