William Street was originally named Warwick Street when Shawsheen Village was laid out. The name was changed by a vote at a special Town Meeting on November 13, 1922 in memory of William M. Wood Jr., son of William M. & Ellen (Ayer) Wood, who died in an automobile accident on Aug. 15, 1922.

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 rented through the Homestead Association who had offices in the Post Office building on the corner of North Main & Poor Streets.

After the death of William M. Wood in Feb. 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 AWCo 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 rent the properties. With the Great Depression sales were sluggish and many homes were rented until the economy rebounded.

The first occupants of record to lease the home in 1926 were Mrs. Madeline Coggswell and John A., Otis W. both students, and William T. a clerk. In 1928 the home is vacant.

This house was first sold to Bartley J. & Hannah H. Higgins of North Hampton, MA on Dec. 29, 1933. Higgins owned just four years then returned to North Hampton.

John T. Batal purchased the property on June 9, 1937. John T. Batal b. 1896 was a Physician in Lawrence, MA. John and wife Mary b. 1897 owned the home for 39 years.

John Batal sold the property to Anne E. Simon Ronshagen on Mar. 29, 1976. William J. & Kathleen M. Scanlon purchased the property on Apr. 1, 1977. Bill Scanlon was the owner of Scanlon's Hardware Store in Lawrence and in Andover. First buying out Hills Hardware then re-locating to the Barnard Block where Cole's Hardware store was located. His wife Cathleen was an English Teacher in the Andover Public Schools. The Scanlon's owned for 15 years.