Structure · Built 1956 · Moved 1957
Richardson Root Beer Stand
Richardson Root Beer Stand
| Address | 729 Boston Rd |
| Built | 1956 |
| Moved | 1957 |
| New Address | 176 Boston Rd |
| Other Lot Structures |
The Branch Bakery (1911 -
1955)
Olga L. Greenwood House (1915 - 1955) The Hofbrau (1941 - 1955) |
Residents remember that about 1956 a Richardson Root Beer stand from Burlington was moved onto this lot at the corner of Boston Road and Shawsheen Road, after The Hofbrau nightclub had burned, and that it was later moved to North Billerica, where with an addition it became Mac's Two Lounge at 176 Boston Road. No record of the stand itself has been found, but the dates fit: the corner was sold in May 1957 for the Pinehurst Miniature Golf Course, and a business was open on the North Billerica lot, bought in November 1956, by 1957. Its size and place on the lot are not recorded; the outline shown is an estimate.
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| May 3, 1861 | Warranty Deed | Henry Rice of Tewksbury, yeoman | Elkanah S. Smith of Billerica | probable earlier title: the forty-acre Rice farm on the old road and the road to Billerica Mills | 27/392 |
For $2,450, "a certain farm situate in the Northerly part of Billerica ... containing forty acres, more or less", beginning at its southeast corner "at the Old Road" by a stake and stones at the wall, running by the grantor's own land to "the Road leading from the Buildings to Billerica Mills", across that road, by the heirs of William Bowers, Herman Rogers, Charles H. French and Oren Sheldon, and back across the road to the Old Road, "with all the Buildings thereon". Smith was to build the fence on the east line as a stone wall. Probable earlier title of the Boston Road and Treble Cove Road corner; the deeds do not prove that the four-acre fork parcel of 1882 was part of this farm rather than Rice's adjoining land.
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| October 2, 1866 | Warranty Deed | Elkanah S. Smith of Billerica (his wife releasing dower and homestead) | William H. Smith and Coburn S. Smith, both of Billerica | probable earlier title: Elkanah S. Smith's homestead farm to William H. and Coburn S. Smith | 52/128 |
Signed June 6, 1866. For $2,000, "my Homestead Farm situate in the northerly part of said Billerica containing Forty acres more or less", bounded as in the 1861 deed by land of Henry Rice, "the Road leading from the Buildings to Billerica Mills", the heirs of William Bowers, Herman Rogers, C. H. French and Ann Sheldon and "the Old Road", "with all the buildings thereon". "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Henry Rice by deed dated April 28th 1861 ... Book 27 Page 392", subject to a mortgage to Rice which the grantees assumed.
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| April 12, 1926 | Quitclaim Deed | Coburn S. Smith of Billerica | Mabelle M. Smith, Miriam H. Schmelzer and Gwendolyn H. Smith, all of Billerica | Coburn S. Smith's four acres at the fork of the roads to Lowell and the Canal Mills | 735/122 |
Dated April 10, 1926 and recorded about April 12, 1926 (pages 122 to 124). Coburn S. Smith, "being unmarried", conveys four parcels: about four acres with the buildings at the fork of the roads to Lowell and to the "Canal Mills"; "a certain piece or parcel of land containing eighty-five (85) acres and one hundred and three (103) rods", from land of Harvey Crosby along "the old road leading to Chelmsford" to land of Joseph Dow's and by land formerly of Benjamin Frost and Michael McGlone, less 26 acres sold to James and Ann McCluskey and half an acre to Carley; nine acres and 88 poles on the old road to Chelmsford by Abbott Russell and Joseph Stearns; and "the dam swamp, containing about ten (10) acres", by land of William Frost, Joseph Dow, William Manning and the heirs of Joseph Wilson. The first three parcels had been mortgaged by Smith to George H. Hill on March 21, 1902 (Book 352, Page 195).
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| April 29, 1927 | Quitclaim Deed | Mabelle M. Smith and Gwendolyn H. Smith, both unmarried, and Miriam H. Schmelzer (her husband E. Raymond Schmelzer releasing), all of Billerica | Emil W. Michalek of Cambridge | the Boston Road and Treble Cove Road corner to Emil W. Michalek | 748/364 |
Signed April 27, 1927. "A certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica on the northeasterly side of the Boston Road and the westerly side of Treble Cove Road": from a stake at Boston Road easterly by John J. Nuttall 268.51 feet to land of one Campbell, by Campbell 76.35 feet, by land of Fred C. Smith and Mabelle M. Smith 105 feet, easterly by Mabelle M. Smith 100.82 feet to Treble Cove Road, by Treble Cove Road 139.66, 67.15 and 27.80 feet to Boston Road, and by Boston Road 320.89 feet and 128.60 feet on a curve to the beginning, "Containing sixty-four thousand three hundred (64,300) square feet". "Being a part of the premises first described in a deed to us from Coburn S. Smith, dated April 10, 1926 ... Book 735, Page 122." Michalek gave back a $3,500 mortgage at six per cent.
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| December 8, 1953 | Quitclaim Deed | Emil W. Michalek of Billerica (his wife Margaret F. Michalek releasing dower and homestead) | Two private buyers, of Auburndale (Newton) and of Wilmington | Lot A of the 1953 Michalek plan sold off | 1242/325 |
Signed December 1, 1953. "A certain parcel of land, with the buildings thereon, situated in the northerly part of said Billerica on the northeasterly side of the Boston Road", shown as Lot A on the Monahan plan of August 3, 1953, revised November 23, 1953, "to be recorded herewith" (Plan Book 83, Plan 129): from a stake at Boston Road by Nuttall 268.51 feet, by Campbell 76.35 feet, by Fred C. Smith 48 feet "to other land of this grantor", by that land 163.5 feet to Boston Road, and by Boston Road 38 feet and 128.60 feet on a curve. "Said Lot A contains 28,000 square feet", "a portion of the premises described in a deed to said Emil W. Michalek by Mabelle M. Smith et als dated April 27, 1927 ... Book 748, Page 364". Stamps for about $5,000.
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| July 13, 1954 | Quitclaim Deed | The Wilmington co-owner of Lot A (his wife releasing dower) | The Newton co-owner of Lot A | one buyer's half of Lot A to the other | 1261/181 |
Signed July 13, 1954. "An undivided one half interest in" Lot A "with the buildings thereon", bounded on the south by "other land of said Emil W. Michalek and shown as Lot B on said plan", containing 28,000 square feet. "Meaning and intending to convey all my interest ... which I acquired by deed of Emil W. Michalek ... Book 1242, Page 325." The grantee then owned all of Lot A.
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| November 15, 1956 | Quitclaim Deed | The owner of Lot A, of Newton, unmarried | Henry C. Duca and Doris E. Duca of East Billerica, husband and wife, as tenants by the entirety | Lot A to Henry C. and Doris E. Duca (Enrico's, Mack's Drive-In) | 1355/393 |
Signed and recorded November 15, 1956. "A certain parcel of land, with the buildings thereon, situated in the northerly part of Billerica ... on the northeasterly side of the Boston Road", Lot A on Plan Book 83, Plan 129, 28,000 square feet, part of the 1927 Michalek purchase (Book 748, Page 364), being the premises of the 1953 deed (Book 1242, Page 325) and the 1954 deed of the other half (Book 1261, Page 181). Stamps for about $6,000. The Ducas ran Mac's Cafe and Grill next door at 180 Boston Road; by 1957 Henry C. Duca had Enrico's Pizza Pantry on this lot.
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| November 15, 1956 | Mortgage | Henry C. Duca and Doris E. Duca of East Billerica | The seller of Lot A, of Newton | purchase mortgage of the Ducas | 1355/394 |
Signed November 15, 1956, recorded a minute after the deed. Purchase mortgage to secure $5,261 "in sixty-one months" at six per cent, on Lot A "with the buildings thereon", with the same title recital as the deed (Book 1355, Page 393). Discharged June 18, 1959, when the Ducas refinanced with the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Lowell.
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| June 19, 1959 | Mortgage | Henry C. Duca and Doris E. Duca of Billerica | First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Lowell | Duca mortgage after the 1959 rezoning for business | 1442/172 |
Signed in June 1959. To secure $15,300, a mortgage of their house lots on Gray Street (Lots 30 and 31, East Billerica Farms) and of "the land in Billerica with the buildings thereon ... on the northeasterly side of Boston Road", Lot A on Plan Book 83, Plan 129. Recorded June 19, 1959, three months after the annual town meeting voted under Article 84 to rezone the Duca land on Boston Road from residential to general business, the year Mack's Drive-In first advertised.
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| December 30, 1963 | Mortgage | Henry C. Duca and Doris E. Duca of Billerica | Chagnon Lumber Co., Inc. of Nashua, New Hampshire | Duca mortgage to a lumber dealer, the year Enrico's Restaurant opened | 1632/132 |
To secure $12,000, Lot A "with the buildings thereon" on the northeasterly side of Boston Road (Plan Book 83, Plan 129), "Being the same premises conveyed to us by deed ... dated November 15, 1956 ... Book 1355, Page 393", "subject to a prior mortgage to the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank". A mortgage to a lumber dealer in the year the business became Enrico's Restaurant; it may mark the addition to the stand, though no record found describes the work.
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| July 15, 1976 | Quitclaim Deed | Henry C. Duca and Doris E. Duca, husband and wife, both of Limerick, Maine | The trustees of Mac's Realty Trust (declaration of trust dated July 15, 1976), of Billerica | sale to Mac's Realty Trust: Mac's Two Lounge | 2203/173 |
Dated July 15, 1976. For $50,000, "the land, with the buildings thereon, situated at and numbered 176 Boston Road, in North Billerica", Lot A on Plan Book 83, Plan 129, 28,000 square feet. "Being the same premises conveyed to Henry C. Duca, et ux, by deed ... dated November 15, 1956 ... Book 1355, Page 393." The building became Mac's Two Lounge.
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| October 10, 2000 | Deed | The trustees of Mac's Realty Trust | The trustee of New Mac's Realty Trust (declaration of trust dated October 10, 2000) | to New Mac's Realty Trust | 11104/259 |
For one dollar, "a certain parcel of land with buildings thereon ... numbered 176 Boston Road", Lot A on Plan Book 83, Plan 129, 28,000 square feet. "Being the same premises described in a deed to grantors dated July 15, 1976 ... Book 2203, Page 173." A transfer between related trusts; the assessor records no sale price.
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| July 29, 2016 | Quitclaim Deed | The successor trustee of New Mac's Realty Trust | The trustee of New Mac's II Realty Trust (declaration of trust dated July 12, 2016) | to New Mac's II Realty Trust | 30283/23 |
For less than $100, Lot A "with buildings thereon" at 176 Boston Road. For title the deed cites the 2000 deed of the trustees of Mac's Realty Trust (Book 11104, Page 259), with a death certificate of one trustee, the resignation of another and the appointment of the successor trustee recorded with it.
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| July 6, 2020 | Quitclaim Deed | The trustee of New Mac's II Realty Trust, of 176 Boston Road | 188 CF LLC, of 8 Chelmsford Road, North Billerica | to 188 CF LLC | 34327/135 |
Dated June 25, 2020. For $600,000, "a certain parcel of land with buildings thereon ... numbered 176 Boston Road", Lot A on Plan Book 83, Plan 129, 28,000 square feet. "Meaning and intending to convey those same premises conveyed to Grantor herein by deed dated July 12, 2016 ... Book 30283, Page 23." Mac's Two Lounge closed about this time; Cado, Inc. was the last business taxed at the address (2016 to 2020).
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| February 28, 2025 | Quitclaim Deed | 188 CF LLC, of 8 Chelmsford Road, North Billerica | Town of Billerica, acting by its Select Board "for general municipal purposes" | bought by the Town for a new North Billerica fire station | 39093/157 |
For $1,150,000, "a certain parcel of land with buildings thereon ... numbered 176 Boston Road", Lot A on the 1953 Michalek plan (Plan Book 83, Plan 129), bounded by land of John J. Nutall et ux, Campbell, Fred C. Smith, Michalek and Boston Road, 28,000 square feet. "Being the same premises conveyed to the Grantor by deed dated June 25, 2020 ... Book 34327, Page 135." The town bought it as the site of a new North Billerica fire station.
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| August 19, 2025 | Variance | Billerica Board of Appeals (Case 25-30) | Town of Billerica, owner of 176 Boston Road | variance for the new fire station | 39465/158 |
Variance granted June 25, 2025 "to reduce the setbacks to construct a new fire station in a General Business Zone". Fire Chief Robert Cole told the board that the present North Billerica station could not be remodeled or expanded because of wetland buffer zones and flood plain, "therefore, a new site for it has been purchased at 176 Boston Rd". Side yards reduced to 19 and 11 feet, rear yard to 10 feet, lot coverage raised to 32.6 per cent; vote 5-0.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.