Talbot Textile Mill Worker Housing at 13-15 Wilson St
Talbot Textile Mill Worker Housing at 13-15 Wilson St
The double house at 13-15 Wilson Street in North Billerica is one of the row of matching duplexes that C. P. Talbot and Company built for workers at the Talbot Mills along the west side of Wilson Street. It stands on Lot 30 of "Plan A" of the Talbot Mills property (Plan Book 60, Plan 25), a lot of 10,949 square feet with about 88 feet on the street, between 9-11 Wilson Street (Lot 31) to the north and 17-19 Wilson Street (Lot 29) to the south. A right of way that the deeds require to be "forever kept open" runs along the back of the lot from Elm Street to Wilson Street.
The land was part of the farm beside the old Richardson's Mills, which Thomas Richardson sold with the mills to the committee of the Middlesex Canal proprietors in 1794. In 1819 the proprietors sold 27 acres of it, between the road to the Canal Mills and the Concord River, to Nathan Mears. After Mears died in 1828 his homestead was surveyed into lots, and in 1832 Daniel Wilson bought lots 3 to 5, on the west side of the passage way that became Wilson Street. Wilson kept the land as part of his farm until his death in 1861. His administrator, Gardner Parker, sold the homestead farm at auction in 1863 to James Faulkner, who deeded it back to Parker in 1864. On January 19, 1869 Parker sold Charles P. Talbot and Thomas Talbot "ten acres and thirty nine rods", "being a part of the homestead of the late Daniel Wilson", a tract that took in the west side of Wilson Street where Lot 30 lies; the widow Mary Wilson released her dower.
No buildings were named in 1869, and the house appears on the 1875 map, so it was built between 1869 and 1875; the June 1881 plan of the property of C. P. Talbot and Company (Plan Book 4, Plan 59) shows the row of double houses on the west side of the street. The National Register nomination's date of about 1860 is too early. On October 15, 1884 the Talbot heirs conveyed the mills and the village to the new corporation, The Talbot Mills, and Lot 30 was part of the "third parcel" of those deeds. The company rented the house to mill families for more than fifty years.
In 1936 the company had J. C. and W. T. Monahan divide the village into lots and began selling the houses, but this one was among the last on the street to go. On October 25, 1939 its treasurer, Thomas T. Clark, sold Lot 30 "with the buildings thereon" to Mark Hughes of Rochdale, in Worcester County, together with Lot 16 across the street and a row house lot on Rogers Street (Lot 75). Hughes gave the company a mortgage of $635 on this house, "on demand with six per cent interest", which The Talbot Mills discharged on April 20, 1942. The company kept the right to maintain the common sewer that ran under the lot.
No deed from Mark Hughes is recorded: by 1942 the lots were held by his heirs John, Thomas and James Hughes, all of Rochdale. On April 30, 1942 they deeded the three lots to Muriel W. Cook of Boston, who deeded them back the same day to the three as joint tenants. After Thomas Hughes died (his estate was probated in Essex County), John and James Hughes repeated the arrangement on July 1, 1949 through Isabel J. Wilk of North Andover and took the lots as tenants in common. The brothers kept this house for more than fifty years. In 1996 the Town took it for unpaid 1994-95 taxes of $2,047.09, and in 1999 began a Land Court action to foreclose the tax lien.
John Hughes died on November 28, 1991 and James Hughes on March 6, 1992. On July 30, 2002 their heirs and representatives sold the house for $80,000 to private owners, and the tax title was redeemed at the sale, ending 63 years of ownership by the Hughes family. In 2016 the owners converted the house into the 13-15 Wilson Street Condominium, "one (1) Building with two (2) stories, containing two (2) units, plus a basement", on a "stone foundation", and the two units were sold separately in 2016 and 2017. In 2024 the Town accepted Wilson Street as a public way.
References
- MACRIS BIL.105
- Billerica assessor record for 13 Wilson St (Unit 13, parcel 15-22-1-13): condominium unit built about 1873; master deed Book 30030 Page 94, plans Plan Book 241 Plan 57
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| April 21, 1794 | Deed | Thomas Richardson of Billerica, gentleman (Judith Richardson releasing dower) | Ebenezer Hall of Medford and Samuel Jaques of Wilmington, a committee for the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal | 1794: Thomas Richardson sells his mills and farm to the Middlesex Canal committee | 115/259 (South) |
For 1350 pounds, "about forty acres of Land" bounded easterly by Concord River, westerly by the highway and northerly and southerly by the road; the reversion of half the dower of the widow Hannah Carlton, conveyed to him by Solomon, Moses and Nathan Carlton; five sixths of a small piece at the northeast end of the mill dam, bounded easterly "by Timothy Sprague's Ditch that conveys Water to the Fulling mill"; "together with all the Buildings ... including the Mills Mill priviledges ... commonly known by the name of Richardson's Mills being the same which was formerly granted by the Town of Billerica to Christopher Osgood together with the Mill Dam and Stream", on the conditions of the town's vote of October 4, 1708, a passage for fish, and his 1791 agreement with Timothy Sprague. Dated March 25, 1794; recorded April 21, 1794. Billerica town book 9, pages 81-82. The Canal Mills land from which the proprietors sold their small house lots.
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| September 23, 1820 | Deed | Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal, by John L. Sullivan, agent | Nathan Mears of Billerica, yeoman | 1819: the canal proprietors sell Nathan Mears 27 acres of the Richardson farm | 235/64 (South) |
For $813.18, "a certain tract of land ... containing by measure twenty seven acres and seventeen poles being a part of the Richardson farm," from the southeasterly corner at Concord River "north of the ford way," easterly by "the road leading to the Canal mills" to "land of the Proprietors laid out in small lots," then by the Proprietors' land and several short courses to the river "according to the annexed plat," and by the river to the beginning. Signed August 10, 1819; recorded September 23, 1820. Billerica town book 12, pages 172-173. This became the Mears homestead farm around the tavern lot.
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| June 24, 1828 | Administration | Estate of Nathan Mears of Billerica, yeoman | His minor children Edwin, Charles, Nathan, Lucy Ann and Elbert Mears; Marshall Preston, administrator | 1828 estate of Nathan Mears; the homestead was surveyed into lots in 1832 | Probate #14955 |
Nathan Mears died in June 1828 leaving "no widow, nor heirs of twenty one years of age"; at his children's request (and his own before his death) Marshall Preston of Billerica was appointed administrator at Framingham June 24, 1828, bond $30,000. The inventory lists the homestead of about 27 acres with three dwelling houses, the saw mill, "The Woolen Factory, occupied by Francis Faulkner & son", the forge, the old homestead of Thomas Mears, the Patten lot, and "The Zac. Shed Lot, 7 acres" at $210, with no buildings. Real estate $15,245.
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| April 21, 1832 | Guardian's Deed | John Baldwin of Billerica, Esq., guardian of Lucy Ann, Nathan and Elbert Mears, minor children of Nathan Mears | Daniel Wilson of Billerica | 1832: Daniel Wilson buys Mears lots 3-5, west of the passage way (now Wilson St) | 313/22 (South) |
Licensed by the Supreme Judicial Court, sold at public vendue on the premises March 20, 1832, for $1,428.06, three undivided fifth parts of part of the Mears homestead farm (11 acres 25 1/2 rods, lots 3-5 on S. Livingston's plan) and of "the Z. Shed Lot so called, containing six acres and one hundred and forty three rods", from the northeasterly corner at the road from the "old Mears place" to William Rogers', westerly by the widow Lydia Mears's dower land 58 rods 15 links to William Pollard, southerly by Pollard to the road "leading from the corner so called, to said old Mears place," northeasterly by that road to the corner of the roads about 54 rods, and northerly by the road about 19 poles. Signed March 20, 1832, recorded April 21, 1832. Billerica town book 16, pages 93-95.
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| April 21, 1832 | Guardian's Deed | Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman, guardian of Edwin and Charles Mears, minor children of Nathan Mears | Daniel Wilson of Billerica, yeoman | 1832: the other shares of Mears lots 3-5 to Daniel Wilson | 313/24 (South) |
Licensed by the Supreme Judicial Court, sold at public vendue on the premises March 20, 1832, two undivided fifth parts of the same two tracts: the 11 acres 25 1/2 rods of the homestead farm and "the Z. Shed lot so called, containing six acres and one hundred and forty three rods," bounded as in John Baldwin's deed of the other three fifths. Recorded April 21, 1832. Billerica town book 16, pages 96-98. With Baldwin's deed this gave Daniel Wilson the whole lot.
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| 1861 | Administration | Estate of Daniel Wilson of Billerica, who died November 29, 1861 intestate | Gardner Parker of Billerica, administrator; widow Mary Wilson and eight children | 1861 estate of Daniel Wilson (administrator Gardner Parker) | Probate #44864 |
Gardner Parker, husband of Wilson's daughter Adeline, petitioned December 11, 1861 that Daniel Wilson had died November 29, 1861 intestate, leaving his widow Mary and children Mary J. Wilkins, Adeline M. Parker, Horace N. Wilson, Daniel A. Wilson (at Rattlesnake Bar, California), Israel N. Wilson (a captain then serving in Virginia), Frances A. Faulkner and Charles H. Wilson; he was appointed administrator at Cambridge December 24, 1861. The license of April 7, 1863 led to the sale of Wilson's third of the Mears Tavern stand.
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| April 6, 1864 | Administrator's Deed | Gardner Parker of Billerica, administrator of the estate of Daniel Wilson | James Faulkner of Billerica | 1863: administrator's auction of the Wilson homestead farm to James Faulkner | 37/357 |
Under a license of the Probate Court at Lowell of April 7, 1863, after three weeks' notice in the Lowell Daily Courier, the administrator sold at public auction on December 7, 1863, to James Faulkner, the highest bidder, for $4,000, all Wilson's right at his death in "a certain piece or parcel of land situate in said Billerica, containing about twenty-eight acres being the homestead farm of the late Daniel Wilson", bounded west by the road from Billerica to North Billerica, north by that road and lands of Easty, I. N. Wilson, Foster, Lane and C. P. Talbot & Co., east by Easty, Foster, Lane and the Concord River, and south by the Concord River and the Common. Dated December 7, 1863; acknowledged April 5, 1864; recorded April 6, 1864.
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| April 6, 1864 | Quitclaim | James Faulkner of Billerica (Fanny A. Faulkner releasing dower and homestead) | Gardner Parker of Billerica | 1864: Faulkner deeds the Wilson farm to Gardner Parker | 37/358 |
For $4,000, the same twenty-eight acres "being the homestead farm of the late Daniel Wilson of said Billerica deceased", same bounds, "subject to a right of way over a portion of said premises, and to the dower of Mary Wilson, widow". Faulkner (husband of Wilson's daughter Frances) passed the farm to the administrator Parker (husband of his daughter Adeline) the day after the sale deed was acknowledged. Dated April 5, 1864; recorded April 6, 1864.
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| February 4, 1869 | Quitclaim | Gardner Parker of Billerica (Adeline M. Parker releasing dower and homestead) | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica | 1869: Parker sells the Talbots 10 acres of the Wilson homestead, including Lot 30 | 65/441 |
A tract "containing ten acres and thirty nine rods" in North Billerica from a bound at the Concord River by a wall and an open passage way, by walls to "the wall at the lane", then to the center of the Concord River and up the river, "being a part of the homestead of the late Daniel Wilson deceased", subject to a mortgage held by James R. Faulkner and a right of way. The river end of the Wilson farm, behind the house lot. Followed on the same page by the widow Mary Wilson's release of dower to the Talbots. Dated January 19, 1869; recorded February 4, 1869.
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| February 4, 1869 | Release of Dower | Mary Wilson of Billerica, widow of Daniel Wilson | Charles P. Talbot and Thomas Talbot | 1869: the widow Mary Wilson releases her dower in the 10 acres | 65/442 |
For $1, Mary Wilson releases to the Talbots "all my right title and interest in and to the premises within described and all my right of or to dower in said premises", the ten acres of the Wilson homestead sold by Gardner Parker (Book 65 Page 441). Recorded February 4, 1869.
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| October 16, 1884 | Guardian's Deed | Harriet Talbot et al., by their guardian | The Talbot Mills, Billerica | 1884: Talbot heirs (by guardian) to The Talbot Mills; Lot 30 is part of the "third parcel" | 169/468 |
Known from the grantee index 1881-1900 (Talbot Mills-Billerica, index page 82): received October 16, 1884, "N Billerica. Several parcels, water rts, mill privileges &c, see record", recorded with the deed of Thomas Talbot et al. (Book 169 Page 472). Book 169 images are unavailable at the registry; not read.
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| October 16, 1884 | Deed | Thomas Talbot et al. | The Talbot Mills, Billerica | 1884: Thomas Talbot et al. to The Talbot Mills; Lot 30 is part of the "third parcel" | 169/472 |
Known from the grantee index 1881-1900 (Talbot Mills-Billerica, index page 82): received October 16, 1884, "N Billerica. Several parcels, water rts, mill privileges &c, see record." Later Talbot Mills deeds cite it with Book 169 Page 468 as the deeds "from the Talbot heirs" to the new corporation (one recites a deed of Thomas Talbot et als. dated Oct. 15, 1884). The registry shows "Image is Unavailable" for Book 169, so the deed itself was not read; that it covered the land of the future Oval, part of the C. P. Talbot and Company property west of Wilson Street on the 1881 plan, is inferred.
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| October 25, 1939 | Quitclaim | The Talbot Mills, by Thomas T. Clark, Treasurer | Mark Hughes of Rochdale, Worcester County | 1939: The Talbot Mills sells Lot 30 with the double house (and two other lots) to Mark Hughes | 936/229 |
$6 in stamps. Three parcels "with the buildings thereon": Lot 16 and Lot 30 on Plan A (Wilson Street, Plan 60/25), and third, on "the southwesterly side of Rogers Street", 99.64 feet on Rogers Street, 220.68 feet by Lots 76 and 77, 228.32 feet in two courses and 162.81 feet by other land of the mill, 28,836 square feet, "Lot 75 on Plan 'C-2'" (Plan 60/46), "a part of the premises conveyed to said Talbot Mills by two deeds" of 1884 (604/108 and 889/274), with a right of way along the southeast side of Lot 75 "forever kept open" for Lots 75, 76 and 77 and shared septic tanks on the mill's land. Signed Oct. 24, 1939.
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| October 25, 1939 | Mortgage | Mark Hughes of Rochdale, Worcester County, unmarried | The Talbot Mills of Billerica | 1939 purchase mortgage of $635 to The Talbot Mills, discharged 1942 | 937/92 |
Recorded October 25, 1939 at 3:46 PM, the same day as the company's deed to Hughes (Book 936 Page 229): a mortgage "to secure the payment of six hundred & thirty five dollars on demand with six per cent interest per annum, payable semi-annually" on "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the westerly side of Wilson Street": easterly by Wilson Street 87.95 feet, northerly by Lot 31 129.57 feet, westerly by Lots 38 and 39 (the center line of a right of way) 90.17 feet, southerly by Lot 29 117.21 feet, 10,949 square feet, Lot 30 on Plan "A" (Plan Book 60 Plan 25), "a part of the third parcel" of the 1884 deeds. Signed at Worcester before Samuel Heller, justice of the peace. Hughes gave the company like mortgages of $1,875 on Lot 16 and on Lot 75 (Book 937 Pages 93 and 94). The Talbot Mills discharged all three on April 20, 1942 (Book 976 Page 304).
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| August 5, 1942 | Quitclaim | John Hughes, Thomas Hughes and James Hughes, all of Rochdale, Worcester County, all unmarried | Muriel W. Cook of Boston | 1942 straw deed by the Hughes heirs to Muriel W. Cook | 981/185 |
Dated April 30, 1942, acknowledged in Suffolk County before Edward R. Thomas, notary, and recorded August 5, 1942 at 8:30 AM; the deed runs to page 187. Three parcels: Lot 16 on the southeasterly side of Wilson Street, Lot 30 ("the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the westerly side of Wilson Street", 10,949 square feet, Plan Book 60 Plan 25) and Lot 75 on Rogers Street (Plan Book 60 Plan 46). "Being the same premises conveyed to Mark Hughes by deed of The Talbot Mills ... Book 936, Page 229": the three held as his heirs; no deed from Mark Hughes is recorded. Consideration under $100, subject to "a mortgage held by The Talbot Mills". A straw conveyance: Cook deeded the lots back to the three as joint tenants (Book 981 Page 188).
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| August 5, 1942 | Quitclaim | Muriel W. Cook of Boston, unmarried | John Hughes, Thomas Hughes and James Hughes, all of Rochdale, as joint tenants | 1942: Mark Hughes's heirs John, Thomas and James Hughes take Lot 30 as joint tenants | 981/188 |
The same three parcels (Lots 16 and 30 on Wilson Street and Lot 75 on Rogers Street "with the buildings thereon"), "Being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of John Hughes, Thomas Hughes and James Hughes duly recorded herewith", subject to a mortgage held by The Talbot Mills; under $100. Dated April 30, 1942. The companion deed recorded just before it (ending on page 187-188) passed the lots from the three Hughes brothers, who held them as Mark Hughes's heirs ("conveyed to Mark Hughes by deed of The Talbot Mills ... Book 936, Page 229"), to Cook, so that they could take them back as joint tenants.
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| July 25, 1949 | Quitclaim | John Hughes of Rochdale, unmarried, and James Hughes of Worcester (Mildred E. Hughes, his wife, releasing dower and homestead) | Isabel J. Wilk of North Andover | 1949 straw deed by the surviving Hughes brothers to Isabel J. Wilk | 1120/303 |
Dated July 1, 1949, acknowledged in Suffolk County before Edward R. Thomas, notary, and recorded at 2:22 PM on the date the copy gives as July 25, 1949 (pages 303-306). The same three parcels: Lot 16 and Lot 30 on Wilson Street ("Easterly by said Wilson Street 87.95 feet; Northerly by Lot 31 ... 129.57 feet; Westerly by Lots 38 and 39 ... 90.17 feet; and Southerly by Lot 29 ... 117.21 feet") and Lot 75 on Rogers Street, with the Elm Street right of way and the Talbot Mills sewer reservation. "Being the same premises conveyed to John Hughes, Thomas Hughes and James Hughes, as joint tenants, by deed of Muriel W. Cook ... Book 981, Page 188. For evidence of title, see also Probate of Estate of Thomas Hughes, Essex County Probate Docket No. 223219." Under $100, no stamps. Wilk deeded the lots back the same day to John and James as tenants in common (Book 1120 Page 306).
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| July 25, 1949 | Quitclaim | Isabel J. Wilk of North Andover, unmarried | John Hughes of Rochdale and James Hughes of Worcester, as tenants in common | 1949: John and James Hughes re-take Lot 30 as tenants in common after Thomas Hughes's death | 1120/306 |
Lots 16 and 30 on Wilson Street and, third, "The land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the southwesterly side of Rogers Street", Lot 75 on Plan C-2 (Plan 60/46), 28,836 square feet. Recorded with the deed by which John and James Hughes, the survivors after the death of Thomas Hughes (Essex probate 223219), passed the lots to Wilk for under $100 ("Being the same premises conveyed to John Hughes, Thomas Hughes and James Hughes, as joint tenants, by deed of Muriel W. Cook ... Book 981, Page 188"). Both dated July 1, 1949.
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| February 21, 1996 | Tax Taking | Town of Billerica, by David Genereux, Collector of Taxes | Town of Billerica (from John Hughes and James Hughes) | 1996 tax taking for 1994-95 taxes; redeemed at the 2002 sale | 7883/13 |
Instrument of taking dated February 1, 1996 under General Laws chapter 60, sections 53 and 54, of "13 WILSON ST. 15-22", "A PARCEL OF LAND WITH ANY BUILDINGS THEREON, CONTAINING ABOUT 10,949 SQUARE FEET", identified by the deed in Book 1120 Page 306, for the 1994-95 taxes assessed to John Hughes and James Hughes: taxes $2,047.09, interest $318.25 and costs $41.35, a total of $2,406.69 (tax title 950560). In 1999 the Town filed a complaint in the Land Court against John and James Hughes "to foreclose a tax lien" (notice recorded August 5, 1999, Book 10330 Page 304). The foreclosure was not completed: the tax title was redeemed at the 2002 sale, and the Town's instrument of redemption was recorded August 21, 2002 (Book 13483 Page 168).
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| July 31, 2002 | Quitclaim | The heirs and personal representatives of John Hughes and James Hughes of Worcester | Private owners, husband and wife, of Wilson Street | 2002: the Hughes estates sell the house to private owners, ending 63 years of family ownership | 13384/125 |
Dated July 30, 2002, recorded July 31, 2002 at 10:06 AM, for $80,000: the co-administrators and sole heirs of the estate of John Hughes (Worcester Probate 92P1142 AD) and co-executors and sole devisees under the will of James Hughes (Worcester Probate 92P1141 EP) quitclaim "the land with the buildings thereon situated at 13-15 Wilson Street", Lot 30 on Plan "A" (Plan Book 60 Plan 25), 10,949 square feet, with the right of way from Elm Street. "For our title see deed recorded ... in Book 1120, Page 307 and Worcester Probate Court Case No. 92P1141 EP and 92P1142 AD. John Hughes died on November 28, 1991 ... James Hughes died on March 6, 1992" (death certificates Book 11534 Pages 38 and 40). The family had owned the house since 1939.
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| May 11, 2016 | Master Deed | The 2002 owners, as declarants | 13-15 Wilson Street Condominium (13-15 Wilson Street Condominium Trust) | 2016: the double house becomes the two-unit 13-15 Wilson Street Condominium; units sold 2016 and 2017 | 30030/94 |
Recorded May 11, 2016 at 11:20 AM (24 pages): the owners under the 2002 deed submit the premises to General Laws chapter 183A as the "13-15 Wilson Street Condominium", managed by the 13-15 Wilson Street Condominium Trust. It "contains one (1) Building with two (2) stories, containing two (2) units, plus a basement, and is constructed principally of a wood frame structure, wood beams, rafters and trusses, stone foundation, clapboard exterior, and shingled roof". Site plan by Don Rosa, surveyor, April 25, 2016 (Plan Book 241 Plan 57) and architect's floor plans (Plan Book 241 Plan 58). The units were then sold privately: Unit 13 in 2016 for $233,000 (Book 30292 Page 152; a 2022 transfer between its owners, Book 37143 Page 251) and Unit 15 in 2017 for $237,900 (Book 31084 Page 171).
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| August 2, 2024 | Taking | Town of Billerica, by its Select Board | Town of Billerica (public way easements) | 2024: the Town takes Wilson Street as a public way | 38664/219 |
Under G.L. c. 79 and the vote of the May 16, 2024 Town Meeting (Article 30) accepting Bancroft, Clinton, Dillworth, Exeter Place, North Rexhame, Rexhame, Shannon, Tirone Path and Wilson Street as public ways, the Select Board took "a permanent easement for all purposes for which public ways are used" over the accepted ways, with a drainage easement between Lots 14 and 15 of the Talbot Mills plan (Plan Book 60, Plan 25). No damages were awarded. Wilson Street, the old passage way along the west side of the tavern lot, thus became a public way. Recorded August 2, 2024 (38 pages).
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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.