St. Mary's of the Lake Church
St. Mary's of the Lake was a small Roman Catholic church on the lot between Walnut Avenue and Water Street at Nuttings Lake, lots 20 to 23 of the "Plan of Lots Indian Knoll Terrace," which Frank Dolan had surveyed in May 1910 on part of the old Peter Dolan farm (Plan Book 27, Plan 49). The building did not begin as a church. In August 1916 the cottagers of the new lake colony formed the Nuttings Lake Cooperative Association, "an association of individuals formed for the purpose of accumulating funds for the purchasing and holding of land and building a building for social intercourse and church services for members only," with Lewis F. Willard of Billerica as its trustee.
On August 11, 1916, Johanna Dolan and her son Francis J. Dolan sold the four lots, 9,906 square feet bounded north by Walnut Avenue and south by Water Street, to Willard as trustee, with a right of way through Water Street to the Middlesex Turnpike. The Association's directors at once voted to mortgage the lots to the Charlestown Co-operative Bank for $400, and its hall was built there in the following years.
On October 17, 1925, by vote of the Association's directors, Willard conveyed "four certain lots of land with the buildings thereon" to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston. The hall became a Catholic church for the Nuttings Lake summer colony. Before then the area's Catholics had gone to the mission at Pinehurst for Sunday Mass. The 1932 Lowell suburban directory lists "St Mary's (RC) Water" among Billerica's churches, and the 1951 and 1957 directories list "St. Mary's of the Lake RC Church, Walnut av., Nuttings Lake," next to St. Mary's Church in Pinehurst, the parish formed from the Pinehurst mission in 1937, which it appears to have served as a mission chapel.
The Archdiocese kept the lot for sixty years. By the time it sold it in April 1985, for $15,000, the deed described only the land, and the assessor later classed the lot as vacant. The exact year the church was taken down has not been found. The present house at 11 Water Street was built on the lot in 2003.
References
- St. Matthew the Evangelist Parish, history of the Catholic community of Billerica: Nuttings Lake Catholics attended Mass at Pinehurst in the 1920s; St. Mary parish formed 1937
- Billerica assessor, parcel 87-110-0: Indian Knoll Terrace lots 20-23; sales history; house built 2003
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| July 18, 1910 | Quitclaim | Florence E. Grant of Chelmsford | Johanna Dolan (widow of Peter) and Francis J. Dolan of Billerica | Dolan title to the Indian Knoll Terrace land | 454/216 |
Recorded July 18, 1910. For $1, the same 40-acre homestead "with all the buildings thereon formerly known as the homestead of Charles Stearns, deceased, and more recently known as the homestead of Peter Dolan, deceased" and the Crosby lot, to Peter's widow and their son Francis "as joint tenants and not as tenants in common"; "Being all and the same premises to me conveyed by William J. Lyons et als, by deed of even date".
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| August 31, 1916 | Declaration of Trust | Lewis F. Willard of Billerica, trustee | Nuttings Lake Cooperative Association | Nuttings Lake Cooperative Association formed to build a hall for social and church use | 561/115 |
Dated August 25, 1916. Willard, "the duly elected Trustee of the Nuttings Lake Cooperative Association, an Association of individuals formed for the purpose of accumulating funds for the purchasing and holding of land and building a building for social intercourse and church services for members only of said Association, to be located in that section of said Billerica called Nuttings Lake", declares that he holds all property conveyed to him as trustee, to invest, lease, sell and mortgage under the direction of the Board of Directors. Certificates of Sarah R. Willard, secretary, follow, including the directors' vote of August 5, 1916 to mortgage "four lots of land" to the Charlestown Cooperative Bank for $400.
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| August 31, 1916 | Quitclaim Deed | Johanna Dolan, widow, and Francis J. Dolan of Billerica (Alice M. Dolan releasing dower) | Lewis F. Willard, Trustee for the Nuttings Lake Cooperative Association | Dolans sell lots 20-23 to the Association | 561/117 |
Dated August 11, 1916, for consideration paid, "Four certain lots of land situated in said Billerica on the southerly side of Walnut Avenue and the northerly side of Water Street", lots 20, 21, 22 and 23 on the "Plan of Lots Indian Knoll Terrace, Billerica, Mass., owned by Frank Dolan, May 28, 1910, W. L. Whittemore C. E." (Plan Book 27, Plan 49): north by Walnut Avenue 100 ft, east by lot 24 108.6 ft, south by Water Street 102 ft, west by lot 19 89.5 ft, 9,906 square feet. "Being a portion of the premises to us conveyed by Florence E. Grant by deed dated June 14, 1910", Book 454, Page 216, with a right of way through Water Street to the Middlesex Turnpike.
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| August 31, 1916 | Mortgage | Lewis F. Willard, Trustee for the Nuttings Lake Cooperative Association | Charlestown Co-operative Bank, Boston | Association mortgages the lots for its hall | 561/118 |
For $400 paid by the Charlestown Co-operative Bank, the same four lots on Walnut Avenue and Water Street (Indian Knoll Terrace lots 20-23), as authorized by the directors on August 5, 1916, evidently to pay for the Association's hall. The margin notes the discharge at Book 575, Page 230 (1917).
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| December 2, 1925 | Trustee's Deed | Lewis F. Willard, Trustee for the Nuttings Lake Cooperative Association | Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, a corporation sole | Association sells the lots and hall to the Archbishop | 731/125 |
Dated October 17, 1925, for consideration paid (one dollar in stamps), "four certain lots of land with the buildings thereon" on the south side of Walnut Avenue and the north side of Water Street, lots 20-23 of Indian Knoll Terrace (Plan Book 27, Plan 49), 9,906 square feet, with the right of way through Water Street to the Middlesex Turnpike; "Being the same premises conveyed to me as trustee ... by the said Johanna Dolan and Francis J. Dolan by deed dated August 11, 1916", Book 561, Page 117. Subject to the 1925 taxes. Annie V. Geary, secretary, certifies the directors' vote of October 3, 1925 authorizing the deed. The building became St. Mary's of the Lake Church.
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| April 18, 1985 | Quitclaim Deed | Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, a corporation sole (Most Rev. Bernard F. Law) | A private owner of Nuttings Lake | Archbishop sells the vacant lot | 3011/37 |
Acknowledged April 12, 1985, for $15,000, "Four certain lots of land" on Walnut Avenue and Water Street, lots 20-23 of Indian Knoll Terrace, 9,906 square feet, with the Water Street right of way; "For grantor's title, see Deed of Lewis F. Willard, Trustee for the Nuttings Lake Cooperative Association, dated October 17, 1925", Book 731, Page 125. Unlike 1925, no buildings are mentioned. The lot passed within the buyer's family in 1999 and 2002 (assessor: vacant land, use 131, in 1999), the present house was built in 2003, and it was sold in 2018 (Book 32492, Page 172).
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.