Wedgewood Avenue

Wedgewood Avenue is a short dead-end street running north from River Street in Billerica Centre, beside the railroad near the site of the old Billerica station. Until about 1990 it was called Maple Avenue. The directories describe "Maple Avenue, from River n. Billerica R. R. station northerly to woods" from 1912 on, and a 1916 plan of the Mary N. Casey land, recorded in Plan Book 34 Plan 19, divided lots along it between Maple Avenue and the land of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The street is not on the 1831 town map and does not appear in the 1901 directory, so it was opened between about 1901 and 1912.

The town meeting of 1918 was asked "to accept Maple Avenue as a Town Way," but the finance committee advised dismissing the article because "the street is not in proper shape for acceptance," and it was not accepted. A water main from River Street was recommended in 1919. Maple Avenue was finally accepted at the fall town meeting on October 7, 1980, "a street 30' wide and 412' long."

Billerica had several streets named Maple, and in 1988 to 1990 the Board of Selectmen renamed scores of streets "in an effort to eliminate duplication of names." Maple Avenue became Wedgewood Avenue in that program: a house listed at 10 Maple Avenue in 1988 is listed at 10 Wedgewood Avenue in 1993. The renaming votes of 1989 and 1990 are not printed in the town reports, so the exact date of the change and the reason for the new name are not recorded.

References

1. 1918 warrant, Article 8: to accept Maple Avenue as a town way (finance committee: not in proper shape)
2. 1919 water report: recommended 6 inch main on Maple Avenue from River Street
3. 1980 fall warrant, Article 23: Maple Ave., Precinct 1, among streets to be accepted
4. 1980 fall town meeting, Oct. 7, 1980: Maple Avenue accepted as a public way, 30 feet wide and 412 feet long
5. 1988 Annual Report: Street Renaming Committee, over 60 street names changed to remove duplicates