Shawsheen Village was named after the Native American name for the river Shawshin, which means Great Spring. . All the streets in the Village were named for Castles & Cathedrals in Great Britain.

Prior to Shawsheen Village this area was known as Frye Village. The town of Andover purchased land from York Street to the Boston and Maine Railroad for the use of a Town Farm or Alms House in 1807.
York St. and Burnham Rd. were an old Frye Village way to the Alms house, a brick factory and a connecting route to the center of town prior to the construction of the Essex Turnpike, now Route 28 or Main St.

York Street takes its name from York Minster Cathedral , seat of the Archbishop of York, second highest office in the Church of England. The Gothic Church is one of the largest in Northern Europe. There is also a York Castle, in York, England. A Norman castle built by William I

This home was built as part of the Shawsheen Village development 1918 – 1924 by William M. Wood, President of the American Woolen Company. Wood hired about eight different architects to design the homes and structures for the village. Homes were sold or leased through the Homestead Association who had offices in the Post Office building on the corner of North Main & Poor Streets. This house plan was used four times, one at 4 Carisbrooke St, and two at 8 and 13 Canterbury Streets.

A walk down York Street will find a mix of the old and new as Wood moved a few older homes in Frye Village to sites on York St. Each home incorporates a different look, style and design modifications, most noticeable with the front door entrances. Decorative details on the corner boards and a variety of ornamental trellises add to the “icing on the cake, of the maintained original designs. Most of the homes now sport a variety of different colors no longer all white with green shutters as dictated in the original deeds.

After the death of William M. Wood on Feb. 2, 1926 most of the residential and commercial buildings were then sold. Some were held by the Wood family in the "Arden Trust" and others with the American Woolen Company, which had been deeded the property in December 1920. The A.W.Co. Board of Directors authorized its President, Lionel J. Noah, to deliver all deeds, as deemed necessary to the Textile Realty for sale on Dec. 29, 1931.

The Textile Realty then transferred ownership to the Andover Shawsheen Realty Company on June 30, 1932, holding the mortgage on the properties. T. Edwin Andrew, treasurer, was authorized to sell or lease the properties. With the Great Depression sales were sluggish and many homes were rented until the economy rebounded.

One of the first occupants of record to lease the home in 1926 were William C. & Mary A. Ford. William was an attorney in Lawrence. Ford would later buy 17 York St in 1934.

This house was sold to Alice B. Tomlinson, wife of Walter C. Tomlinson on June 1, 1935. Walter was a lawyer in Lawrence. Tomlinson owned four years then sold the property back to the Andover Shawsheen Realty Co. on May. 9, 1939. Part of the deed restriction when originally sold gave the Company the "right to first refusal" until 1948. ASRCo then sold to Gilbert I & Isabel Lynch on Oct. 2, 1939. Lynch owned for a little over four years. The house was rented to Oswald J. & Helen A. Durkin 1939-1942. Oswald worked at the bowling alleys in Lawrence. Lynch then sold to Joseph K. & Elise G. Pearson on May 23, 1944 after ASRCo declined to buy again.

The Pearson family owned for 39 years. Joseph b.1896 was a consulting engineer. Elsie b. 1901 a housewife. Joseph died in 1963 and Elise G. Pearson would remain another 20 years in the home. Pearson sold to Joan McNeil & Jean P. Lister on Oct. 14, 1983.