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 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 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 1923 were George L. & Helen C. Gahm. George was a superintendent for the A. W. Co. Gahm is also listed in 1928.

This house was sold to George A. & Maude B. Mellen on July 16, 1935. George worked for Hildreth & Rogers Co. as the secretary & treasurer Eagle- Tribune Publishing Co. George would later become Editor. His wife Maude Brackett grew up in Lawrence, MA, graduated from Lawrence High School and was a classmate of Robert Frost.

Maude B. Mellen estate, James S. Eastman, Walter C. Thompson, Extrs, Dec. 6, 1946
Robert A. & Margaret T. Watters - Dec. 28, 1946 - b. 693 p. 401
Leonard M. & Betty G. Murchison - Aug. 19, 1960