Themes: Architectural, community development, industry

This property once belonged to Thomas C. Foster who divided off house lots and sold off separately to several residents along this side of No. Main St. This lot was sold by Foster to John & Mary Dennison on June 8, 1853 for $100. Dennison then had the house built. In Sept. 1857 the property deed went to John Cronin of Lawrence, for $1000. It is assumed that this was a mortgage deed and Mary Dennison then buys back the property on May 5, 1860 for $500.

Later Dennison purchased a second parcel from the Boston & Maine Railroad which was a portion of the old rail bed, originally a section of the Andover - Wilmington Railroad line to North Andover & Haverhill (1836-1848) The railroad tracks were relocated to the present day location to service the new city of Lawrence, MA in 1848. It was previously thought that the property was connected to the Marland Manufacturing Co. but at no time did the company own this property. It is most likely that family members and tenants worked for the company.

The Dennison family owned the property for 45 years then sold to Ellen Donovan on June 28, 1898. The Donovan family owned the property for 65 years. It home was sold in 1963 to C. Lincoln Giles, an architect and real estate developer. Giles approach to older properties was to renovate and restore into multi apartments. Old Andover Village and the Frye House Colonial Village are two of his projects. Giles restored the exterior of the house and updated the interior. Giles then sold the revitalized property to John H. & Alice R. Thorn on Nov. 19, 1965.