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. All the streets in the new Village were named for Castles & Cathedrals in Great Britain Sutherland Street takes it name from the historic seat of the Earls of Sutherland, Dunrobin Castle, a mile to the north of Golspie, Scotland. The current castle was developed out of an old stronghold that was remodeled in modern times by Robert Lorimer.

This house is in the Shawsheen Village National Register Historic District, surveyed in 1977 and created in 1979. It was designated a National Register Historic District in 1980 by the Massachusetts Historical Commission, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

This home was not 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 who had offices in the Post Office building on the corner of North Main & Poor Streets, later moved into the Administration Building. This lot was yet to be developed but owned by the American Woolen Co. As Stirling St. ended at the corner of the lot. Charlotte Morgan Hill owned the property to the north of Sutherland St., some 20 acres she had purchased from the Dove family in 1920. That parcel was known as the Den Rock Terrace and now includes the extension of Stirling St. and beyond.

Each home built 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. Most of the homes now sport a variety of different colors, no longer all white with green shutters as dictated in the original deeds. Many of the original screen porches have been enclosed for an additional room.

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 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.
The lot, when sold, would come with the same deed restrictions as all the properties of the AWCo. The deed dictated the cost of the home, color white, and style of garages if built.

This house lot was sold to Mildred A. Robinson, wife of Foster C. Robinson on June 29, 1932. Robinson had the property for four years then sold to Ernest & Edith Howard on June 13, 1936. The Howards. purchased two smaller adjoining lots in 1936. Edith Howard died on Dec. 9, 1938. Ernest later remarried to Antoinette and after Ernest death in 1943 she sold the property to Minnie E. Wells of Lawrence on Dec. 16, 1943.