Structure · Built 1882
Wilson Street Engine House
Wilson Street Engine House
| Address | 20-22 Wilson St |
| Built | 1882 |
| Owners | Lawrence B. Gannon (1891 - 1911) |
The Wilson Street Engine House is the two-story frame building at 20-22 Wilson Street in North Billerica, on the river side of the street next to the Mahoney House. From 1882 to 1891 it was the town's engine house for North Billerica, the home of the village hand engine and its fire company. When the town moved its apparatus into the rebuilt Union Hall in 1891, it sold the building at auction for $1,530. It later became a store and then a two-family house, and it still stands on the narrow two-rod lot the town bought for it.
The North Billerica fire company began with the mills. After incendiary fires in the 1840s the mill owners formed a fire brigade, and its engine house was a barn on Wilson Street, half of it a meeting room for the firemen and half a house for the apparatus, an 1852 Hunneman hand engine called "Old Hero". By 1881 an engine house stood on the land of Anthony Jones and Dudley Foster on the river side of Wilson Street. When they sold the widow Elizabeth Auty a strip two rods wide there in November 1881, her mortgage of the same day reserved "the engine house thereon with all their rights for removing the same." On August 17, 1882 Mrs. Auty sold the town, for $210, the two rods at the south end of her land, from Wilson Street to the Concord River beside the lot of Eliza Mahoney. The engine house was evidently set on this lot; the assessor dates the present building to about 1880, and in 1885 the town paid "Mrs. Mahoney, use of engine land, $4.00", Patrick Higgins for labor "at Engine House yard" and Patrick McCarthy for whitewashing the engine house.
Union Hall, the town's hall on the road to the depot, burned in February 1891. The town rebuilt it with a fire station on the ground floor and bought a Silsby steam fire engine, a hose carriage and a ladder truck for North Billerica, and the Talbot Mills were paid $31 for "altering building to receive steamer" until the new hall was ready. The old engine house was no longer needed. G. E. Stearns was paid $6.50 for "selling old engine house", and on September 28, 1891 the town, by its treasurer Dudley Foster, deeded "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon, situated on Wilson street" to Lawrence B. Gannon for $1,530. The town's accounts for the year list "Engine house and land, $1,530.00" with the $8,000 of insurance as the funds for the new Union Hall.
Gannon, a North Billerica storekeeper who owned the land on both sides of the Mahoney lot by 1905, kept the building for the rest of his life. The fire insurance map of 1907 shows it as a two-story store, about 29 feet wide and 37 feet deep, with a one-story porch across the front on Wilson Street. After his death his daughters divided his land, and on April 26, 1919 Elizabeth A. and Henrietta F. Gannon released "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon, situated on Wilson Street" to their sister Catherine A. Kearney. In August 1944 the heirs of Catherine A. and Bernard W. Kearney sold it, and the selectmen recorded a vote ratifying the town's deed of 1891. The lot passed through private hands to Cote Sheet Metal Co., Inc. of Lowell in January 1959, and that August the company sold it to a private couple, with a plan showing 33 feet on Wilson Street and 10,300 square feet, "known as and numbered 22 Wilson Street." It has been privately owned since. The assessor describes it as a converted two-family building of twelve rooms.
References
- Billerica assessor, parcel 9-133-0, 20-22 Wilson St: two-family, converted building, built about 1880, 0.240 acre
- Annual Report of the Town of Billerica, 1892: Union Hall account, "Engine house and land, $1,530.00"; "G. E. Stearns, selling old engine house, $6.50"; Talbot Mills altering building to receive steamer
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| December 4, 1869 | Warranty Deed | Caroline Haynes, widow, and the children of Lyman Haynes (Tilly, Theodore L., Cyrus H., Charles R., William H. and John Haynes, and Carrie H. Jenkins), all of Springfield | Anthony Jones and Dudley Foster, both of Billerica | 1869 Jones and Foster, owners of the Dix homestead land on the river side of Wilson St | 71/90 |
For $3,300, "an undivided third part of a certain parcel of land situate in that part of said Billerica called North Billerica containing four acres more or less with a new store & dwelling house & barn, two red houses, Mears Tavern house & hall, Dix House and barn and other buildings thereon," from the road from North Billerica to Lowell at land of Wilson, by Wilson and C. P. Talbot & Co. to the passage way, by land formerly of Wilson & Gannon to Concord River, and by Talbot land and "the common land" back to the road, reserving the passage way. Also a third of the Rogers farm and of 52 acres bought of Calvin Rogers in 1858 (Book 17, Page 435). Signed November 22, 1869; recorded December 4, 1869. Lyman Haynes had died in 1869; this put his third of the tavern in Jones and Foster.
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| June 3, 1881 | Warranty Deed | Anthony Jones and Dudley Foster, both of Billerica (with Judith Jones and Louisa P. Foster releasing dower and homestead) | Elizabeth Auty of Billerica, widow | 1881 Jones and Foster sell Elizabeth Auty the land from which the engine house lot was cut | 145/577 |
"In consideration of Seven hundred dollars" (reading uncertain) paid by Elizabeth Auty, widow, warranty of "a certain tract of land situate on Wilson St. North Billerica": beginning at land of Elizabeth Mahoney on Wilson Street, easterly by Mahoney's land to a bound at Concord River, northerly on the river seven rods to a bound at other land of Jones and Foster, westerly by land of Jones and Foster about twenty rods to a bound on Wilson Street, and southerly on Wilson Street seven rods to the beginning. No buildings are named. Judith Jones, wife of Anthony, and Louisa P. Foster, wife of Dudley, release dower and homestead. Dated May 27, 1881 (witness Lizzie R. Jones), acknowledged the same day before Albert D. Stanton JP; recorded June 3, 1881 at 12:15 PM (margin "Jones & Foster to Auty"). The land was part of the old Mears tavern and Dix homestead land that Jones and Foster had bought in 1863-1870.
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| December 3, 1881 | Mortgage | Elizabeth Auty of Billerica (her mark) | Anthony Jones of Billerica | 1881 Auty mortgage reserving "the engine house thereon with all their rights for removing the same" | 149/295 |
For $100 paid by Anthony Jones, mortgage of "a certain tract of land situated in North Billerica": beginning at the southwest corner of the premises "at my other land and on Wilson Street", easterly by the grantor's land to Concord River, northerly by the river two rods to a bound at land of Jones and Foster, westerly by Jones and Foster land parallel with the first line and two rods from it to Wilson Street, and southerly on the street two rods; "Reserving the engine house thereon with all their rights for removing the same. Being the same premises conveyed to me this day by Anthony Jones and Dudley Foster." Payable in one year at six per cent. Signed November 16, 1881, witness Dudley Foster, acknowledged before him as JP; recorded December 3, 1881 at 11:30 AM (pages 295-296). The deed of the two-rod strip from Jones and Foster, made the same day, was never recorded; with it the Auty land became about nine rods wide (148 1/2 feet), of which 8 1/4 feet went to Eliza Mahoney the same day (Book 160 Page 103) and two rods to the town in 1882 (Book 155 Page 247), leaving the 107-foot market lot.
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| May 21, 1883 | Warranty Deed | Elizabeth Auty of Billerica, widow (her mark) | Eliza Mahoney of Billerica | 1881 Elizabeth Auty owned the land north of the Mahoney lot, where 20-22 Wilson St now stands | 160/103 |
For $50, "A certain tract of land situate in North Billerica": from the southwest corner at land of Mahoney on Wilson Street, east by Mahoney's land to Concord River, north by the river eight and one quarter feet to other land of the grantor, west parallel with the first line and 8 1/4 feet from it to Wilson Street, and south 8 1/4 feet on the street. Dated Nov. 16, 1881, witnesses Dudley Foster and Anthony Jones; acknowledged Nov. 21, 1881 before Dudley Foster JP. Mrs. Auty owned the land north of the Mahoney lot.
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| September 18, 1882 | Deed | Elizabeth Auty of Billerica, widow | Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica | 1882 town way to the river on the north side of the Mahoney lot, toward 20-22 Wilson St | 155/247 |
For $210, "a certain tract of land situate on Wilson st. North Billerica": beginning at land of Eliza Mahoney on Wilson Street, east by Mahoney to a bound at Concord River, north by the river two rods to her other land, west by her land two rods from the first line to Wilson Street, and south on the street two rods. Dated Aug. 17, 1882, acknowledged before Dudley Foster JP. A two-rod way to the river beside the Mahoney lot, used by the town for its fire engine ("Mrs. Mahoney, use of engine land, $4.00", town report 1885).
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| October 3, 1891 | Warranty Deed | Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by Dudley Foster, Treasurer, authorized by the Selectmen | Lawrence B. Gannon of Billerica | 1891 the town sells the old engine house and its two-rod lot, now 20-22 Wilson St, to L. B. Gannon | 227/281 |
For $1,530, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon, situated on Wilson street, North Billerica": from land of Eliza Mahoney on Wilson Street east by Mahoney to Concord River, north on the river two rods to land of Elizabeth Auty, west by Auty "just two rods distant" from the first line to the street, and south on Wilson Street two rods, "Being the same premises conveyed to the Inhabitants of Billerica by Elizabeth Auty" (155/247). Dated Sept. 28, 1891, acknowledged Sept. 29 before Frederick A. Morey JP. The building was the old North Billerica engine house, sold at auction when the town bought a steamer ("for engine house sold, $1,530.00", town report 1892).
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| August 16, 1905 | Quitclaim | Lawrence B. Gannon of Billerica (Kate Gannon releasing dower and homestead) | The Talbot Mills | 1905 Gannon owned the land north of the Mahoney lot, the site of 20-22 Wilson St | 379/439 |
For $1 and other valuable considerations, "all the right title and interest" in the Mahoney tract "with the buildings thereon situated on the easterly line of Wilson Street", 351.70 feet by the grantor's land, the river, 320.40 feet by his other land and 80.45 feet on the street, "Being the same premises shown on a 'Plan of land and buildings bought by the Talbot Mills from Mrs Eliza Mahoney' surveyed by H. W. Sheldon". "This conveyance is made for the purpose of establishing the bounds and boundary lines between said Mahoney land and lands of my own adjoining the same on the north and south." Dated Aug. 4, 1905.
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| May 9, 1919 | Quitclaim | Elizabeth A. (Lizzie A.) Gannon and Henrietta F. Gannon of Billerica, both unmarried, daughters of Lawrence B. Gannon | Their sister Catherine A. Kearney of Billerica | 1919 division of the Gannon estate: 20-22 Wilson St to Catherine A. Kearney | 604/37 |
$2 in stamps. "The land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon, situated on Wilson Street", the two-rod lot from land of Eliza Mahoney "now or formerly" to land of Elizabeth Auty, "Being the same premises conveyed to our father Laurence B. Gannon, late of said Billerica, by deed of the Inhabitants of Billerica, dated September 28, 1891" (227/281). Dated April 26, 1919, acknowledged at Lowell before John J. Hogan JP. Part of the division of the Gannon estate among his children, recorded with deeds of the other Gannon lots on F. W. Huntington and Co.'s plan of December 1918.
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| August 15, 1944 | Vote | Board of Selectmen of the Town of Billerica | (confirmation of the 1891 deed to Lawrence B. Gannon) | 1944 selectmen ratify the 1891 sale of the engine house lot (20-22 Wilson St) | 1011/360 |
Vote of Aug. 7, 1944, unanimous, "That the act of the Selectmen of the Town of Billerica in conveying the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on Wilson Street" (the two-rod lot beside the Mahoney land) "to Lawrence Gannon by deed dated September 28, 1891, be and the same hereby is ratified and confirmed", with the seal and delivery of that deed. Attested by George S. Gracie, Secretary. Recorded to clear the title for the 1944 sale.
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| August 15, 1944 | Quitclaim | Marietta K. Begley of Lowell, Evelyn E. Hayes of Billerica and Katherine F. Kearney of Lowell, heirs at law of Catherine A. and Bernard W. Kearney (husbands releasing curtesy) | Alicia J. Welsh of Billerica | 1944 the Kearney heirs sell 20-22 Wilson St to Alicia J. Welsh | 1011/361 |
$2.75 in stamps. "The land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on Wilson Street": from land of Eliza Mahoney "now or formerly" east to Concord River, north two rods on the river to land of Elizabeth Auty, west two rods from the first line to Wilson Street and south two rods on the street. "Being the same premises conveyed by Elizabeth A. Gannon et al to Catherine A. Kearney by deed dated April 26, 1919" (604/37); "Our title is derived as heirs-at-law of Catherine A. Kearney and Bernard W. Kearney, late of Billerica." Dated Aug. 15, 1944.
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| November 29, 1957 | Quitclaim | The 1944 buyer, of Billerica, unmarried | A private owner of Lowell | 1957 transfer for less than $100 (20-22 Wilson St) | 1389/413 |
"The land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on Wilson Street", the same two-rod lot from land of Eliza Mahoney "now or formerly" to land of Elizabeth Auty "now or formerly", "Being the same premises to me conveyed by Marietta K. Begley et al by deed dated August 15, 1944" (1011/361). The grantor was the 1944 buyer. "The consideration for this deed is less than $100.00." Dated and acknowledged at Lowell Nov. 29, 1957.
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| January 6, 1959 | Quitclaim | A private owner of Lowell, unmarried (the 1957 grantee) | Cote Sheet Metal Co., Inc., a corporation with its usual place of business in Lowell | 1959 Cote Sheet Metal Co. buys 20-22 Wilson St | 1426/291 |
"The land in Billerica ... with the buildings thereon, situated on Wilson Street", the two-rod lot from land of Eliza Mahoney "now or formerly" north to land of Elizabeth Auty "now or formerly", "Being the same premises to me conveyed by" the 1957 deed (1389/413). Recorded Jan. 6, 1959 9:13 am, just after the discharge of the 1950 Lowell Co-operative Bank mortgage, and followed by Cote's mortgage to the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank.
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| August 18, 1959 | Quitclaim | Cote Sheet Metal Co., Inc., of Lowell (by vote of its directors) | A private couple of Quincy | 1959 sale to a private couple: 33 feet on Wilson St, 10,300 sq ft, "numbered 22 Wilson Street" | 1448/545 |
"A certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in Billerica", shown on a "Plan of Land in Billerica Surveyed for Cote Sheet Metal Co., Inc." dated July 8, 1959: west by Wilson Street 33 feet, south by land of Coppola about 319 feet, east by Concord River 33 feet and north by land of Hall about 315 feet, 10,300 square feet, "known as and numbered 22 Wilson Street". The corporate vote authorized the sale of "the land at 20-22 Wilson Street, North Billerica". Recorded Aug. 18, 1959 with the buyers' mortgage to the Arlington Five Cents Savings Bank. Later private sales: 1992, 1996 ($90,000) and 1998 ($129,000).
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.