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 Dumbarton Street takes its name from Dumbarton Castle which has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Scotland. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dunbarton, and sits on known as Dumbarton Rock which is 240 feet high. It overlooks the river Clyde.

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.

One of the first occupants of record to lease the home in 1923 were William & Mary McKay. William was a steam fitter. children include Fred a tree surgeon and Sallie a telephone operator. In 1926 Mary is a widow. Daughters Mary G. and operator in the mill and Sallie C. now a clerk in the AWCo. Son William M. is a shipper.

This house was sold to William H. & Lillian T Hearne, Jr. on Nov. 23, 1932. William was an insurance manager in Boston. It appears that William & Lillian had a parting of the ways as the property was transferred to Augustine X. Dooley on Jan. 14, 1946 and then deeded back to Lillian T. Hearne on Aug. 1, 1946. She is listed as unmarried but no mention of a death of William.

Lillian sold three years later to Jean A. Foster on Oct. 11, 1949. The deed was then placed in both Robert M. b. 1913 & Jean A. Fosters' b. 1919 names on Aug. 4, 1950.
Robert is listed as a Vice- President in 1961. Foster owned for 13 years then selling to George A & Violette R. Doherty on Aug. 1, 1962.