Town House
Town House
| Also Known As | G. A. R. Hall |
| Address | South of Andover Rd |
| Built | 1797 |
| Demolished | 1877 |
| Other Lot Structures |
Fletcher Hotel (1795 -
1877)
Mitchell Boys' School (1879 - 1888) Dr. Albert C. Lane House (1889 - 1926) Billerica Center Shops (Built 1915) Dr. Albert C. Lane House (1926 - 1970) Billerica Center Shops (Built 1927) Billerica Center Shops (Built 1947) |
The Town House stood on a small corner lot, 40 feet on the road by 42 feet deep, on the east side of the Boston road nearly opposite the First Parish meeting house, at the south edge of the corner later occupied by the Fletcher Hotel. It stood at the front of its lot, on the line of the road: the 1875 county atlas draws it at the street edge between the hotel and S. W. Baldwin's house, labeled "G. A. R. Hall", with a smaller building drawn behind it, beyond the 42-foot depth of the town house lot, on the hotel land. It was built in 1797, the year the new meeting house went up across the Common, and served for almost fifty years as the town's meeting hall and as a schoolroom for the centre district. Tradition holds that timber from the Third Meetinghouse went into it; the deeds do not say.
The land was part of the 30-acre homestead near the meeting house that Oliver Abbot bought from Joshua Abbot in 1757. In 1795 Oliver Abbot sold "half an acre & one pole" at the corner of Long Street and East Street (Boston and Andover Roads) to Charles Hammock and Ephraim Kidder Jr., and in April 1797 Kidder sold it to James Abbott. On April 24, 1798 Abbot deeded the southwest corner of that lot to the Town of Billerica. The deed itself was never recorded, but the town's own deed of 1845 and every later one recite it, and four days later, when Abbot sold the rest of the lot to Dr. William Wilkins, he was careful to keep it out, "reserving and excepting" the corner 40 by 42 feet. A mortgage of 1799 likewise excepts "a town house lot forty feet front and forty two feet back", and in 1817 the hotel lot was still bounded south by "land of the Inhabitants of the town of Billerica".
By the 1840s the town wanted better quarters. In 1845 it bought from John Baldwin a lot of about 7,000 square feet on the west side of the Common, "it being understood between the parties that said premises are now to be occupied for a school house", and the town meeting of March 17, 1845 voted to sell the old building. On October 1, 1845 the Inhabitants of the Town and of School District No. 1, through Daniel Wilson, Francis Richardson and Zadock Howe for the town and John Baldwin, John Eames and Joseph F. Hill for the district, sold it for $600 to Henry Baldwin, the trader whose house and store stood next door, as "the building thereon heretofore used as a Town House & school house".
Henry Baldwin died the next year. His will let his executors sell "the Old Town house (so called) in Billerica", and his inventory valued the "Town house lot and building" at $550, but it was never sold for the estate. His widow Anne Baldwin kept it until February 1867, when she sold it for $800 to George W. Gragg, taking back a mortgage of $650. Gragg kept a shoe shop on the ground floor, and in November 1869 he leased "my Hall ... over my shoe shop" to Grand Army of the Republic Post No. 102 of Billerica for $45 a year, with the right to hold it ten years and to let it to the Good Templars on certain evenings. From then on the upper room was the town's G.A.R. Hall.
In 1871 Anne Baldwin assigned the mortgage to Mary Cole, Gragg's mother-in-law, and in January 1876 Gragg sold her the building outright for $750. That August she sold it, again for $750, to Jasper F. Bruce, who mortgaged it back to her. On October 4, 1877 the fire that destroyed the Fletcher Hotel also burned the old Town House and G.A.R. Hall. Twelve days later Bruce sold the bare lot for $300 to Joseph W. Green, the owner of the hotel corner, and the Town House lot has been part of that corner ever since: it was still described separately as "sixteen hundred and eighty square feet" in an 1897 mortgage, and its site now lies under the Billerica Center Shops.
Earlier accounts said the building was sold in 1844 and that the G.A.R. Hall was a separate building of 1874. The deeds show the town voted the sale in March 1845 and conveyed it that October, and that the G.A.R. had used the hall upstairs since 1869.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| February 11, 1762 | Deed | Joshua Abbot, cordwainer, and Dorcas Abbot | Oliver Abbot, retailer | 1757: the town house corner was part of the Abbot homestead | 59/357 (South) |
For 270 pounds, about 30 acres "near the Meeting house," from a stone at the southwest corner easterly by David Abbot, northeasterly by marked trees and the grantor's land, north by Samuel Sheldon "to the highway called East Street," then westerly by East Street "to the highway called Long Street," then southward by Long Street "and the Commons" to the first bound, "with all the Buildings thereon." Signed April 26, 1757. East Street was the street granted to Golden More. Hazen's 1776 tax list places Oliver Abbot at "Paul Hill's place, east of Common." Billerica town book 8, pages 19-21.
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| April 27, 1796 | Deed | Oliver Abbot of Billerica, yeoman (Abigail Abbot releasing dower) | Charles Hammock and Ephraim Kidder Jr., Gent., both of Billerica | 1795: Oliver Abbot sells the half acre at the corner to Hammock and Kidder | 122/220 (South) |
Billerica town book 9, pages 230-231. Dated Sept. 7, 1795. For 60 pounds, "a certain tract or Parcel of land lying in Billerica aforesaid containing half an acre & one pole", bounded east and south by Abbot's own land nine poles each, west "by the high way called Long street nine poles" and north "by the high way called East street or Sheldons lane nine poles", the corners marked by stakes and stones. No buildings are mentioned: this is the bare corner lot on which the store, later the tavern stand and hotel, was built.
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| 1796 | Administration | Estate of Oliver Abbot of Billerica, trader | Simon Winship of Lexington, miller, administrator; heirs Abigail Abbot (widow), Joanna Winship, Dorcas Bowers, Abigail Abbot Jr. and Elizabeth Abbot | 1796: the town house corner was part of Oliver Abbot's homestead | Probate #49 |
Oliver Abbot died intestate early in 1796, months after selling the corner half acre. His heirs asked on April 28, 1796 that Simon Winship of Lexington administer. The inventory of May 27, 1796 values "A Dwelling House" at $700 and "The homsted called 26 acres Bounded Westerly on the meeting house common and the County Road leading to Boston, Southerly on Mr David Abbots land and Easterly on Benj. Abbots & Josiah Bowerses Land And Northerly on the Road leading to Andover", divided by the fences into three lots, "The north lot taking in the Buildings" being nine acres. The hotel corner was the northwest corner of this homestead; the rest of the north lot passed to the heirs, among them Dorcas Bowers, later an abutter on the east and south.
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| April 20, 1797 | Deed | Ephraim Kidder Jr. of Billerica, gentleman (Abigail Kidder releasing dower) | James Abbott of Billerica, trader | 1797: Kidder sells the corner lot to James Abbot, who gives the town the Town House corner | 125/313 (South) |
Billerica town book 9, pages 302-303. Dated April 1797. For $800, the same half acre and one pole, "beginning on the highway called long street at a fixed rock" and running north nine poles to the northwest corner, "then running eastwardly on the wall betwixt said lot and Sheldens lane so called nine poles", then south and west by "land belonging to the heirs of Oliver Abbot deceased", "with the buildings thereon standing". Kidder conveys alone, so Charles Hammock had given up his half; the building of the 1795 partnership stood by now.
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| March 11, 1799 | Deed | James Abbott of Billerica, gentleman (Mehitable Abbot releasing dower) | Dr. William Wilkins of Billerica, physician | 1798: the 40 by 42 foot town house corner is excepted from Abbot's sale | 132/36 (South) |
Billerica town book 9, pages 419-421. Dated April 28, 1798, acknowledged March 9, 1799. For $750, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon situate near the meeting house", half an acre and one pole as bounded in Kidder's 1797 deed, "reserving and excepting from said tract of land the south west corner of the same", a piece 42 feet deep and 40 feet along "the publick high way". That excepted corner is the lot of the 1797 Town House. Witnessed by Charles Hammock.
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| March 11, 1799 | Mortgage | Dr. William Wilkins of Billerica, physician | Jonathan Lawrence of Billerica | 1799: the "town house lot" is excepted | 132/37 (South) |
Billerica town book 9, pages 421-422. Dated March 11, 1799, for 200 pounds ($666.67), "all that certain tract of land with a dwelling house thereon situate near Billerica meeting house said tract containing half an acre and one pole", a corner lot bounded east and north by the land of the late Oliver Abbot and west and south by the highways, "excepting a town house lot forty feet front and forty two feet back on the southwest of said lot". Void on payment of 100 pounds by Aug. 1, 1799; discharged at Cambridge June 5, 1803.
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| January 12, 1810 | Quitclaim | Dr. William Wilkins of Marblehead, physician, and Frances Wilkins his wife | James Abbott of Billerica, esquire | 1809: "land of the inhabitants" bounds the lot on the south | 187/46 (South) |
Billerica town book 10, pages 513-514. Dated Dec. 15, 1809. For $160, a release of "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon, situate in Billerica aforesaid the east side of the great road leading from Boston to Chelmsford, and directly opposite or in front of the meeting house", half an acre, bounded west by the road, "northerly by Sheldon lane, so called", east by the widow Dorcas Bowers and Alexander Bowers, and south by the Bowers land "and land of the inhabitants of said town of Billerica" (the town house lot).
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| July 30, 1818 | Warranty Deed | Lucy H. Foster of Billerica, widow | William Richardson of Billerica, gentleman | 1817: the town house land bounds the lot on the south | 225/307 (South) |
Billerica town book 12, pages 72-73. Dated Nov. 21, 1817. For $2,500, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon situated in Billerica aforesaid the east side of the great road leading from Boston to Chelmsford and directly opposite or in front of the meeting house", now "two and an half acres", bounded west by the road, north "by Sheldens lane so called", east by Capt. Josiah Bowers and John Weatherbee, and south "by land of George Bruce and land of the Inhabitants of the town of Billerica". The Fosters had enlarged the 1809 half acre with Bowers land to the east and south. Richardson made it the tavern stand.
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| October 1, 1833 | Deed | Asa Richardson of Boston, gentleman (Elizabeth Richardson releasing dower) | Lyman Haynes of Billerica, innholder | 1833: the tavern stand is bounded south by "land of the inhabitants" | 327/54 (South) |
"A certain tract of land with the buildings thereon, a Tavern stand, situate in said Billerica, the east side of the great road leading from Lowell to Boston and in front of the first Congregational Meeting-house in said Billerica containing two and a half acres more or less", bounded west by the great road, north "by Sheldon's Lane so called" (the later road to Andover or Salem), east by John and Henry Baldwin, and south by the Baldwins and land of the inhabitants of Billerica. The King house lot was later cut from the east end of this tract. Dated Oct. 1, 1833, acknowledged at Boston before Henry Alline. Billerica town book 16, pages 290-291.
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| 1845 | Deed | John Baldwin of Billerica, Esquire | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica | 1845: the town buys a new schoolhouse lot west of the Common and sells the old Town House | 458/303 (South) |
Billerica town book 17, page 575. For $325, "a certain tract or parcel of land situate in said Billerica on the westerly side of the Common, containing about seven thousand square feet", 70 feet on the Common by 100 feet deep, south by land of Ann Parker, "it being understood between the parties that said premises are now to be occupied for a school house". The new centre schoolhouse lot that replaced the school room in the old Town House, sold the same year.
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| 1845 | Warranty Deed | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica and the Inhabitants of School District No. 1 in Billerica | Henry Baldwin of Billerica, trader | 1845: the town and School District No. 1 sell the old Town House and school house to Henry Baldwin | 480/52 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 130-131. Dated Oct. 1, 1845. For $600, "a certain tract of land situated in said town nearly opposite the First Parish Meeting house with the building thereon heretofore used as a Town House & school house", beginning at the southwest corner on the public highway, east by land of Baldwin 42 feet to land of Lyman Haynes, north and west by Haynes, south on the highway 40 feet. "Being the same premises conveyed to said Town of Billerica by James Abbot by his deed dated the 24th day of April A.D. 1798" (that deed was never recorded). Signed for the town by Daniel Wilson, Francis Richardson and Zadock Howe under a vote of the town meeting of March 17, 1845, and for the district by John Baldwin, John Eames and Joseph F. Hill.
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| June 30, 1846 | Will | Estate of Henry Baldwin of Billerica, trader | His widow Anne Baldwin for life, then his sons Henry A., Samuel W. and George F. Baldwin | 1846: Henry Baldwin's will lets his executors sell "the Old Town house (so called)" | Probate #26760 |
Will dated May 18, 1846, proved June 30, 1846: "I give bequeath & devise to my wife Anne Baldwin my house, store, out buildings & land under & adjoining them, also all my farm, being about forty acres ... during her natural life, & at her decease, to my three children, to be equally divided between them." Executors Augustus Whiting of Charlestown and Henry A. Baldwin, who might sell "the Old Town house (so called)" and the Lowell lots. The inventory (appraisers Dudley Foster, Lyman Haynes, Gardner Parker) lists "The Homestead of said deceased situate in said Billerica" at $3,360 and the "Town house lot and building" at $550. George F., a minor, chose his mother as guardian (probate 26757).
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| June 30, 1846 | Guardianship | George F. Baldwin, minor above fourteen, son of Henry Baldwin late of Billerica, trader | His mother Anne Baldwin of Billerica, widow, guardian | 1846: George F. Baldwin, a minor heir, chooses his mother Anne as guardian | Probate #26757 |
On June 27, 1846 George F. Baldwin chose his mother as guardian (before Marshall Preston); she was appointed June 30, 1846 with Harriet Whiting and Henry A. Baldwin as sureties ($2,000 bond). George F. was one of the three sons to whom the house and store passed after his mother's life estate.
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| May 17, 1853 | Will | Estate of Henry A. Baldwin of Billerica | His mother Anne Baldwin (residue); his brother Samuel W. Baldwin ($50) | 1853: Henry A. Baldwin leaves his share of his father's estate to his mother Anne | Probate #26761 |
Will dated Oct. 4, 1852 (witnesses Fred. Dickinson, Mathew Casey, Mary Casey), proved at Cambridge May 17, 1853, executor Dr. Augustus Whiting of Charlestown: $100 to his aunt Harriet Whiting, $50 to "my brother Samuel W. Baldwin", and "to my dear mother Anne Baldwin all the remainder of my estate of every description both real & personal", which included his third of the remainder in the house and store under his father's will.
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| February 25, 1867 | Warranty Deed | Anne Baldwin of Billerica, widow | George W. Gragg of Billerica | 1867: Anne Baldwin sells the old Town House to George W. Gragg | 54/436 |
Dated Feb. 19, 1867, witnessed by Augustus Whiting and Samuel P. Baldwin, acknowledged before Charles H. Parker. For $800, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica nearly opposite the First Parish Meeting House with the building thereon heretofore used as a Town House", beginning at the southwest corner on the public highway, east by land of said Baldwin 42 feet to land of Lyman Haynes, north by Haynes 40 feet, west by Haynes 42 feet to the highway, south on the highway 40 feet. "Being the same conveyed to Town of Billerica by James Abbott by his deed dated the 24th day of April A.D. 1798." Gragg gave back a mortgage of $650 the same week (Book 54 Page 461).
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| February 27, 1867 | Mortgage | George W. Gragg of Billerica | Anne Baldwin of Billerica | 1867: Gragg mortgages the Town House back to Anne Baldwin for $650 | 54/461 |
Dated February 1867. The purchase-money mortgage on "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica nearly opposite the first parish meeting house with the buildings thereon heretofore used as a town house", same 42 by 40 foot bounds, "Being the same this day conveyed to George W. Gragg by Anne Baldwin". Void on payment of $650 at $100 a year. Margin: "See Assignment in Book 78 Page 3".
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| February 10, 1873 | Warranty Deed | William Blanchard of Billerica, yeoman (Lydia A. Blanchard releasing dower and homestead) | Joseph Warren Green of Billerica | 1867: the 42 by 40 foot town house lot, now G. F. Gragg's, is the notch in the bounds | 91/341 |
Dated March 30, 1867, but not recorded until Feb. 10, 1873. For $2,800, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon (a Tavern Stand)" on the east side of the road from Lowell to Boston "and in front of the Congregational Meeting house", one acre, "beginning at the south west corner of the premises at land of G. F. Gragg at a bound, thence running easterly by said Gragg's land forty two (42) feet ... thence southerly by land of said Gragg forty (40) feet to land of Mrs. Henry Baldwin", then by Baldwin and Lyman Haynes to "Sheldon's Lane, so called" and back by the road, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Henry Sperry, Deed dated March 17th 1856". The 42 by 40 foot notch is the old Town House lot, then Gragg's.
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| April 9, 1872 | Lease | George W. Gragg of Billerica | G. A. R. Post No. 102 of Billerica | 1869: Gragg leases the hall over his shoe shop to G.A.R. Post 102 | 85/429 |
Dated November 1869, recorded April 9, 1872. Gragg "doth hereby lease, demise and let unto the G. A. R. Post No. 102 of said Billerica my Hall situate in said Billerica over my shoe shop", for one year "with the privilege of holding ten years" from November 1869, at $45 a year, "with the privilege of leasing to the Good Templars said Hall on certain evenings". No alterations without the lessor's written approval. Signed G. W. Gragg and, for the Post, [?] Jaquith Jr. The upper hall of the old Town House, over Gragg's shoe shop, was the G.A.R. Hall from 1869.
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| 1871 | Assignment of Mortgage | Anne Baldwin of Billerica, mortgagee | Mary Cole of Billerica, wife of Samuel Cole | 1871: Anne Baldwin assigns the Town House mortgage to Mary Cole | 78/3 |
Dated Feb. 1, 1871. For $600 Anne Baldwin assigns to Mary Cole "the said mortgage deed, the note and claim thereby secured and all my right title and interest in the estate herein conveyed" (margin: See Book 54 Page 461), the mortgage of the old Town House given by George W. Gragg in 1867. Mary Cole, Gragg's mother-in-law, bought the fee from him in January 1876 and discharged the mortgage that November (Book 120 Page 500).
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| February 8, 1876 | Quitclaim | George W. Gragg of Billerica (Mary E. Gragg releasing dower and homestead) | Mary Cole of Billerica, wife of Samuel Cole | 1876: George W. Gragg sells the old Town House to his mother-in-law Mary Cole | 115/408 |
Dated Jan. 17, 1876, acknowledged Jan. 21 before Dudley Foster. For $750, "a certain tract of land in said Billerica nearly opposite the First Parish Meeting House, with the buildings thereon heretofore used as a Town House", 42 feet on the highway by 40 feet deep, east by Samuel W. Baldwin and north and west by "land formerly of Lyman Haynes". Free of encumbrances "except a mortgage of six hundred and fifty dollars from me to Anne Baldwin". No title recital. Mary Cole was the mother of Gragg's wife Mary Elizabeth.
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| August 29, 1876 | Warranty Deed | Mary Cole of Billerica, in her own right, and Samuel Cole her husband | Jasper F. Bruce of Billerica | 1876: Mary Cole sells the building "heretofore used as a Town House" to Jasper F. Bruce | 119/593 |
Dated Aug. 4, 1876, acknowledged before Dudley Foster. For $750, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica nearly opposite the First Parish Meeting House, with the buildings thereon, heretofore used as a Town House", beginning at the southwest corner on the public highway, east by land of Samuel W. Baldwin 42 feet to land of Joseph W. Green "(formerly of Lyman Haynes)", north by Green 40 feet, west by Green 42 feet to the highway, south on the highway 40 feet. "Being premises conveyed to me by George W. Gragg", deed dated Jan. 17, recorded Book 115 Page 408.
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| August 29, 1876 | Mortgage | Jasper F. Bruce of Billerica, trader | Mary Cole of Billerica, a married woman | 1876: Bruce mortgages the Town House to Mary Cole for $700 | 119/595 |
Recorded with the deed from Mary Cole (Book 119 Page 593). For $700 in five years at seven per cent, payable semi-annually, with the buildings to be kept insured, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica nearly opposite the First Parish Meeting House with the buildings thereon, heretofore used as a Town House", the same 42 by 40 foot lot. Margin: "See Rel. Book 126 Page 331"; Mary Cole discharged it Oct. 15, 1877, when Bruce sold the burnt lot to Joseph W. Green.
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| November 7, 1877 | Warranty Deed | Jasper F. Bruce of Billerica (Cordelia Bruce releasing dower and homestead) | Joseph Warren Green of Billerica | 1877: the 42 by 40 foot town house lot is sold to Green after the fire | 126/331 |
Dated Oct. 16, 1877, twelve days after the fire. For $300, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica, nearly opposite the First Parish Meeting House", beginning at the southwest corner on the public highway at land of Samuel W. Baldwin and running east 42 feet, north 40 feet and west 42 feet, "all by land of said Green", to the highway, then south 40 feet on the highway. This is the old Town House lot, later the G.A.R. Hall, whose building had burned with the hotel; Green added it to the hotel lot. On the same page Mary Cole discharged Bruce's mortgage of it (Book 119, page 595).
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| March 9, 1878 | Mortgage | Joseph Warren Green of Billerica (Susan J. Green releasing dower and homestead) | Albert R. Richardson of Billerica | 1878: the former town house lot is mortgaged with the corner | 128/83 |
Dated March 5, 1878. For $1,100 in five years at six per cent, "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon ... containing one and one half acres more or less, situated in the Middletown of Billerica", bounded north "by the Andover and Tewksbury road", east by land formerly of Lyman Haynes, south by Samuel W. Baldwin and west by the Boston and Lowell road, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Wm. Blanchard", together with the adjoining lot bought of Jasper F. Bruce in 1877. The first lot was still under Richardson's $1,100 mortgage of 1877.
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| April 4, 1879 | Warranty Deed | Joseph Warren Green of Billerica (Susan J. Green releasing dower and homestead) | Albert R. Richardson of Billerica | 1879: the town house lot passes with the corner | 132/539 |
Dated April 1, 1879. For $6,500, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon ... containing one and one half acre more or less situated in the centre of said Billerica nearly opposite the Unitarian Church", bounded by the Andover and Tewksbury road, land formerly of Lyman Haynes now Matthew Carey, Samuel W. Baldwin and the Boston and Lowell road, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by William Blanchard" with the adjoining Bruce lot, "subject to mortgages, notes, taxes, insurance &c. amounting in all to sixty five hundred dollars which are a part of the above consideration. Possession to be given May 1st 1879." After the fire Green surrendered the corner to his mortgagee.
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| April 10, 1880 | Warranty Deed | Albert R. Richardson of Billerica (Caroline E. Richardson releasing dower and homestead) | Mary Hanson Mitchell of Billerica, wife of Moses Campbell Mitchell | 1880: the town house lot passes with the corner | 138/488 |
Dated April 7, 1880. For $7,500, the same one and a half acres "with the buildings thereon ... in the centre of said Billerica nearly opposite the Unitarian Church", the Blanchard and Bruce lots, "Also the large street lantern at the corner of the house on the premises", being the premises conveyed to Richardson by Joseph Warren Green on April 1, 1879. The buildings are the Mitchell Boys' School, which the Mitchells had moved to Billerica.
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| September 1, 1888 | Warranty Deed | Mary Hanson Mitchell and Moses Campbell Mitchell her husband, of Billerica | Dr. Albert C. Lane of Billerica | 1888: the old town house lot passes with the corner | 199/442 |
Dated Aug. 28, 1888. For $3,000, "a certain parcel of land situate in said Billerica containing one and one half acres more or less located in the centre of said Billerica nearly opposite the Unitarian Church", bounded north by the Andover and Tewksbury road, east by land formerly of Lyman Haynes, later Matthew Carey "and now by said Moses C. Mitchell", south by land formerly of Samuel W. Baldwin "and at present by J. F. Bruce", and west by the Boston and Lowell road, the Blanchard and Bruce lots, "being the same premises conveyed to Mary Hanson Mitchell by Albert R. Richardson by his deed dated April 7th 1880". No buildings are mentioned: the school had burned earlier in 1888. Lane built his house and office here.
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| August 26, 1892 | Warranty Deed | Dr. Albert C. Lane of Billerica (Estella J. Lane releasing dower and homestead) | Eliphalet W. Tyler of New York City | 1892: the Bruce lot (old Town House) passes with the corner to E. W. Tyler | 235/499 |
Dated Aug. 11, 1892. For $8,000, "a certain parcel of land situate in said Billerica containing one and one half acres more or less, located in the centre of said Billerica, nearly opposite the Unitarian Church", bounded by the Andover and Tewksbury road, Moses C. Mitchell (formerly Lyman Haynes and Mathew Carey), J. F. Bruce (formerly Samuel W. Baldwin) and the Boston and Lowell road, with the adjoining Bruce lot, "being the same premises conveyed to said Albert C. Lane by deed from said Mary Hanson Mitchell and Moses C. Mitchell dated August twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight". The price, against $3,000 in 1888, reflects the house Lane had built. Mrs. Lane's release of dower was re-recorded as a correction in Book 240, page 545.
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| June 10, 1897 | Mortgage | Eliphalet W. Tyler of New York City | Lowell Institution for Savings | 1897: the 1,680 square foot town house lot is described separately | 287/106 |
Dated June 1897. For $5,000 in one year at five per cent, the one and a half acres "in the centre of said Billerica nearly opposite the Unitarian Church", bounded north by "Andover and Tewksbury Road, sometimes called Andover Street" and west by "the Boston and Lowell Road now called Main St.", with "a certain other lot of land adjoining ... containing sixteen hundred and eighty square feet" (the 42 by 40 foot former Town House lot), "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Albert C. Lane by his deed dated August 11 1892". Discharged in Book 670, page 491.
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| April 21, 1905 | Quitclaim | Eliphalet W. Tyler of New York City (Elizabeth P. Tyler releasing dower and homestead) | Dr. John Bennett Tyler of Billerica | 1905: the corner and the Bruce lot pass to Dr. John B. Tyler | 376/79 |
Dated April 8, 1905. For one dollar and other valuable consideration, a quitclaim with covenants of the one and a half acres "located in the centre of said Billerica nearly opposite the Unitarian Church" and the adjoining Bruce lot, conveyed to the grantor by Albert C. Lane in 1892 (Book 235, Folio 499), subject to "a certain mortgage for Five Thousand Dollars held by the Lowell Institution for Savings payment of which is hereby assumed by the said John B. Tyler". Dr. Tyler kept his medical office in the house.
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| April 5, 1907 | Quitclaim | Dr. John Bennett Tyler of Billerica | F. Ella Flemings of Lowell | 1907: straw deed of the corner and the Bruce lot | 401/596 |
Dated April 5, 1907. For one dollar and other valuable consideration, the one and a half acres "located in the centre of said Billerica nearly opposite the Unitarian Church" and the adjoining Bruce lot, "all and the same premises to me conveyed by Eliphalet W. Tyler by deed dated April 8, 1905", subject to the Lowell Institution for Savings mortgage. A conveyance through an intermediary to put the title in Mrs. Tyler's name; Flemings deeded it to her the same day.
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| April 5, 1907 | Quitclaim | F. Ella Flemings of Lowell, unmarried | Jennie S. Tyler of Billerica, wife of Dr. John Bennett Tyler | 1907: the corner and the Bruce lot pass to Jennie S. Tyler | 401/597 |
Dated April 5, 1907. For one dollar and other valuable consideration, the same one and a half acres nearly opposite the Unitarian Church and the Bruce lot, "Being all and the same premises to me conveyed by John B. Tyler, husband of said Jennie S. Tyler by deed of even date", subject to the Lowell Institution for Savings mortgage.
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| December 21, 1916 | Warranty Deed | Jennie S. Tyler of Billerica, widow of Dr. John Bennett Tyler | J. Edward Allen of Billerica | 1916: the corner, with the old Town House site, passes to J. Edward Allen | 565/189 |
Dated December 1916, a year after Dr. Tyler's death. For one dollar and other valuable considerations, "a certain tract or parcel of land situated in said Billerica containing an acre of land, more or less, located in the centre of said Billerica nearly opposite the Unitarian Church", bounded by the Andover and Tewksbury Road, "land formerly of Lyman Haynes, but now by land supposed to be of the Estate of Warren Evans, now deceased", J. F. Bruce and the Boston and Lowell Road, reciting the whole chain back to Mary Hanson Mitchell's deed to Albert C. Lane in 1888, subject to the $5,000 Lowell Institution for Savings mortgage, which Allen assumed. Allen gave Mrs. Tyler a mortgage back (Book 565, page 191), discharged in 1922.
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| November 4, 1922 | Executrix's Deed | Emily V. Allen of Billerica, executrix of the will of Joseph Edward Allen, by license of the Probate Court | Mabel O. McQuade of Lowell | 1922: the south part of the corner, including the old Town House site, is sold to Mabel O. McQuade | 670/487 |
Dated Oct. 21, 1922, under a license of the Middlesex Probate Court of Oct. 17, 1922 (the will of J. Edward Allen, Middlesex Probate No. 134289). For $2,500, the land "on the easterly side of Boston Road and southerly from Andover Street", beginning at Boston Road "at a drill hole at land now or once of Jasper F. Bruce", 44 feet on the road by 108 feet deep, 4,749 square feet, "shown on a plan entitled 'Plan of Land in Billerica surveyed for James J. Norton, surveyed August 30, 1922, Henry O. Brooks C.E.'". This split the south part of the old hotel lot, with the block of stores built about 1915, from the corner.
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| November 28, 1923 | Quitclaim | Mabel O. McQuade of Lowell (John F. McQuade releasing curtesy) | Idella L. Norton of Lowell | 1923: the south shop lot on the old Town House site passes to Idella L. Norton | 699/367 |
Dated Nov. 28, 1923. The two parcels on "the easterly side of Boston Road and southerly from Andover Street", the 4,749 square foot lot from the drill hole at Jasper F. Bruce's land and the 12-foot strip north of it, both on the "Plan of Land in Billerica surveyed for James J. Norton" (Aug. 30, 1922, revised Oct. 10, 1922), "conveyed to me by Emily V. Allen, Executrix" in Book 670, pages 487 and 488, subject to a $6,500 mortgage to the City Institution for Savings. McQuade, a Norton daughter, had taken title for the family.
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| December 15, 1933 | Quitclaim | Idella L. Norton of Lowell (James J. Norton releasing curtesy) | James J. Norton, Idella L. Norton and Grace I. Norton, joint tenants | 1933: Norton family transfer of the south shop lot | 835/320 |
Dated Dec. 14, 1933. Five parcels, three in Lowell and, as the Fourth and Fifth Parcels, the 4,749 square foot lot "on the easterly side of Boston Road and southerly from Andover Street" and the 12-foot strip on the 1922 Norton plan, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of Mabel O. McQuade dated November 28, 1923 ... Book 699, Page 367". A family transfer into joint tenancy.
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| March 25, 1938 | Quitclaim | James J. Norton and Grace I. Norton of Lowell | Grace I. Norton, Alice E. Erikson, Hazel N. Donahue and Mabel O. McQuade, joint tenants | 1938: the south shop lot passes to the Norton daughters | 911/225 |
Dated March 25, 1938, for less than $100. The same five parcels, the Billerica Fourth and Fifth Parcels being the south store lot on Boston Road and the 12-foot strip on the 1922 Norton plan, "conveyed to James J. Norton et als, by deed of Idella L. Norton dated December 14, 1933". The Norton daughters took the property in joint tenancy.
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| 1946 | Quitclaim | Grace N. King (formerly Grace I. Norton), Alice E. Erikson, Hazel N. Donahue and Mabel O. McQuade, with their husbands | Frank Cohen of Billerica | 1946: Frank Cohen buys the south shop lot | 1040/341 |
Dated March 7, 1946. "A certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated on the easterly side of Boston Road and southerly from Andover Street", from the drill hole at Jasper F. Bruce's land 93 feet east, 56 feet north, 93 feet west and 56 feet along Boston Road, 5,208 square feet, on the 1922 Norton plan, "Being the same premises conveyed to us by James J. Norton and Grace I. Norton by deed dated March 25, 1938". This is the south store block, which Cohen joined to the corner block in 1946-47.
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| January 10, 1947 | Quitclaim | Frank Cohen of Billerica | Billerica Associates, Inc., of Billerica | 1947: the reunited corner, with the old Town House site, passes to Billerica Associates | 1060/395 |
Signed in December 1946, recorded Jan. 10, 1947. "The land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on the easterly side of Boston Road and the southerly side of Andover Road", 130.25 feet on Boston Road, a 34.04-foot curve at the corner and 170.92 feet on Andover Road, east by Moses C. Mitchell 195.40 feet and south by Jasper F. Bruce 228.42 feet, 35,715 square feet, shown on the 1922 Norton plan (Plan Book 41, Plan 78) and the 1924 Whitman and Howard plan (Plan Book 45, Plan 40), "conveyed to me by two deeds, one from Grace N. King and others dated March 7, 1946 ... Book 1040 page 341, and the other from Gray Realty Company, Inc., dated November 15, 1946". Cohen's company joined the two stores into one block; it also took lots in Pinehurst Manor.
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| November 10, 1961 | Deed | Billerica Associates, Inc., by Mary Cohen, treasurer | Henry J. McCormack of Winchester | 1961: the corner block passes to Henry J. McCormack | 1536/256 |
The stockholders' vote of Nov. 9, 1961 (recorded Nov. 10) and the deed after it. For $80,000, by assuming the Central Savings Bank mortgage of Oct. 3, 1958 ($55,104.35 still due) and the balance in cash, "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on the easterly side of Boston Road and the southerly side of Andover Road", 35,715 square feet on Plan Book 41, Plan 78 and Plan Book 45, Plan 40. McCormack, the druggist who had leased the corner store since 1947, divided it in December 1961 into Lots A and B ("Subdivision plan of land in Billerica, owned by Henry J. McCormack", Emmons and Fleming, Plan Book 97, Plan 42), put it in a family trust in 1962, and in March 1975 sold Lots A and B (20,758 and 10,584 square feet) for $135,000 to a private owner. After a family transfer in 1987 the property was sold in 1998 for $310,000 to MAD Realty Trust, which holds it today.
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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.