Shawsheen Village was named after the Native American name for the river Shawshin, which means Great Spring. Prior to Shawsheen Village this area was known as Frye Village. Most of the streets in the new Village were named for Castles & Cathedrals in Great Britain. Binney Street however was named for Henry P. Binney of Canton, MA, a banker and agent trustee of the American Woolen Company. Binney was hired in 1909 to purchase land in both Lawrence and Andover for future expansion of the American Woolen Co. when William M. Wood was President of the company. Binney then turned all the deeds over to the AWCo in December 1920.

This land was once owned by Sylvester P. Smith (49 Union St) who had plans for a housing development. A 1901 map of Frye Village clearly shows the locations of Shepley & Binney Streets, but named Agawam and Merrick Streets respectively, both connected at the east end by Madison St. which was never built. Old deeds reference both earlier names.

These homes were built as part of the Shawsheen Village development from 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 leased through the Homestead Association with offices in the Post Office building in Shawsheen Square, later moved into the Administration Building.

Binney Street was originally built with 11 homes, 9 were single family residences and 2 were double houses. With the construction of Route 495 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts took every property on Fletcher St. by eminent domain on Dec. 29, 1960. Five homes on Binney St. were also lost. By 1963 Fletcher Street no longer existed. A handful of homes were moved to new locations but the majority was demolished.

One of the goals of the Andover Preservation Commission is to identify historic places and sites. We re-list The homes lost on Binney St. and all of Fletcher St. as it was once a historic part of the Shawsheen Village development. We also honor the families that made their homes on Fletcher St. and their contribution to the community.

Each home incorporated 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, window boxes all added the “icing on the cake, of the original designs. Mr. Wood also incorporated two family duplexes in every section of the new Village.

The properties came with deed restrictions. No stores, factories, or other buildings of any business nature shall be erected, only professional, doctor, dentist or other professional occupations,…No shed, hen houses or out buildings, except a one or two stall garage, which shall have a pitched roof and be of the same general architectural pattern & material, and of the same color, as the building on said premises,…have a cement, macadam, asphalt or crushed stone driveway. No single house erected less than $3500 and no double houses less than $5000. All buildings shall be kept painted white, buff or gray, all with the same setback from the street.

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. The AWCo. Board of Directors authorized its President, Lionel J. Noah, to deliver all deeds, as deemed necessary to the Textile Realty Co. 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 on April 1, 1924 was Charles G. Watson age 30, a carpenter and his wife Elizabeth F. age 25.
In 1930Charles and Florence Rodway are renting the house. Charles works in Sales in Boston.
1932 – George W. Wheeler, a dentist in Lawrence is listed.
1935 the house is vacant and in 1937 Clarence & Theresa White reside here. Clarence was also in Sales.

The house was sold to William H. & Claire E. Tracy on Sept. 1, 1939. William Henry Tracy was born Nov. 24, 1909 in North Amity, ME, son of Henry Reed & Ella (Knapp) Tracy. William was a paper maker at the Champion International Co. on Prospect St. in Lawrence, with his father W. Reed Tracy. William married about 1934 to Claire Estelle _________ b. 1910 and they had a daughter Joyce C. b. 1936 in Lawrence, MA. Tracy owned four years then sold to Armand J. & Runa D. Perrault on May 20, 1943.

Armand Joseph Perrault b. Jan. 1, 1915 in Lawrence, MA, son of Jean B. & Albertine (Gosselin) Perrault. Armand has a filling station in Lawrence in the 1930’s but became a counterman Chef at Frank Joubert’s Diner at 248 Broadway in Lawrence. Armand married Runa Beaudoin v. Jan. 31, 1914 in Lawrence, dau. of Stanislas & Rose D. (Caron) Beaudoin) They had three children; Charles J. b. Aug. 1938, Laurice E. b. 1941 and Pailine A. b. 1945. They lived here for 3½ years then sold to Roger & Louise Roberge in 1946.

The house was purchased by Roger & Louise Roberge on Nov. 29, 1946. Roger Emil Roberge was born on Nov. 10, 1918 in Lawrence, MA. He married in 1939 to Louise Ann Eldred b. 1918 in Lawrence. Roger was a Textile worker at the Shawsheen Mill and they lived 78 Essex St. prior to the move to Binney St. Roger and Louise had four children; Marilyn b. 1940, Roger Phillip b. July 9, 1942, Patricia b. 1945 and Barbara b. 1950. Roger died in 1957 at age 37 and is interred at St. Augustine’s Cemetery. Louise continued to live here with her children. Marilyn graduated for Andover High School in 1959, Roger in 1960, and Patricia in 1962. The property was taken by the State on Dec. 29, 1960 and the 1961 town directory records Louise and Marilyn at 15 Binney St. Unable to find alternate housing in Andover, they were forced to move to Lawrence.