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 Canterbury Street takes its name from Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, England is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. Founded in 597, the cathedral was completely rebuilt from 1070 to 1077. Seat of the Church of England. Canterbury Street was one of the first roads to be laid out in Shawsheen Village.

This home and the one next door at #7 have bragging rights as the two oldest homes on the street. The houses were originally on Poor Street on the portion call "the Back Row" which is now the west side of Wood Park in Shawsheen Square. There were four identical cape cottages built in a row on Poor St. and three duplexes on North Main St. next to the old Faulkner homestead. This home is believed to have been #33 Poor St., built by John Smith, President of the Smith & Dove Co. in Frye Village. John Smith acquired the land in Dec. 1841 and deed it over to his company in July 1864. When the company moved operations to Abbott Village, completed in 1892, the housing stock was no longer necessary and sold off in one parcel to George H. Carlisle on May 3, 1907. Carlisle then divided up all the properties and sold them off separately. Carlisle sold the home at #33 Poor St. to Mary Gilman, wife of Albert E. Gilman of the Holt District on Dec. 17, 1908. Albert was a gardener. The Gilmans owned the home for 11 years then selling to William M. Wood on Sept. 3, 1919.

Shawsheen Village development began in 1918 and continued into 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. This home was saved and moved as part of the new Shawsheen Village. Andover Townsman - Oct. 31, 1919 – The cottages which stood on Poor Street are being moved up Lowell Street, near the sand pit.

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. 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. Wood also incorporated two family duplexes in every section of the new Village.

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 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 properties held in the Arden Trust were deeded to the Phillips Corporation of Portland Maine for liquidation.

One of the first occupants of record to lease the home in 1923 was a S. N. Dunton or Danton listed as a manager. The home appears to be leased to Richard Davis in the 1928 - 1929 directory.

This house was sold by the Phillips Corporation to Louis A. & Gertrude B. Holt on May 15, 1926. Henry Garrison Holt and wife Helen L. Holt then owned from July 21, 1928 to their deaths. In 1930 Garrison Holt, age 37, is listed as a clerk. In 1943 he is a sales manager in Boston, and their son H. Garrison Jr. is serving in the US Army. The property was inherited by their son Henry Garrison Holt Jr., then placing the deed in both his and wife's Grace Shriley Holt names on Mar. 25, 1953. Grace S. Holt held the property on Feb. 28, 1981 and later sold to Brian C. & Helen E. Gerrior on June 26, 1997.
The Holt family owned the property for 71 years.