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. Carlisle Street takes its name from Carlisle Castle situated in Carlisle, Cumbria County, England near the ruins of Hadrian’s Wall, the border between England and Scotland.

The 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 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.

Each home incorporates 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 homes, once sold, came with deed restrictions. No sheds, hen houses or out buildings other than a one or two stall garage, provided it have a pitched roof, construction architecturally & materials similar to the house and painted the same color.(white). The driveway must be concrete, asphalt, macadam or crushed stone. No business could be conducted from the homes other than professional offices such as dentists and doctors.

The first recorded residents at this address in 1923 were Ernest and Edith Howard. Ernest was an overseer at the mil. Ernest & Edith’s children are both employed at the mill in 1927, Mildred, a mender and Norman a mill operator. Norman later became a Section hand by 1932. In 1935 the Howards had moved to Sutherland St.

The house was then occupied by William & Nellie Knapton who had been leasing the house next door at #7 in 1923 They would purchase the home in 1936 from the Shawsheen Realty Co. Knapton was an overseer at the Shawsheen Mill. In 1947 both the Knapton’s and daughter Mary Emma & son-in law Andrew Baillie are living with them.

Mary Knapton graduated from Punchard High School in 1927. Andrew’s occupation is listed as maintenance & repairs in 1947 & Sales promotion in 1950. He worked for the Pillsbury Mill in Boston and relocated to Portland, ME in 1955. They had two sons, James who graduated from Punchard High in 1951 and Richard who was a member of the Andover High class of 1962. A Robert & Pauline Brest of Newton, MA rented the house in 1955-56 when the Baillie family was in Maine.

The Baillie’s and Knapton’s returned to Andover in 1956 and the Baillie purchased the house in 1958. They sold to Robert & Norma Fowle of Tewksbury in 1969. Robert was an Aero Engineer. They remained three years before selling to Edward & Karen Parker.

The Parkers were both graduates of Andover High School in 1964. Karen is and Elementary school teacher and the daughter of Donald & Marjorie Lundgren, former local funeral director at 18 Elm St. Andover. Ed Parker is the son of Edward & Ruth Parker of 26 Strawberry Hill Rd. Ed is a commercial artist teacher and teacher