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.

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 1926 was Martha A. Graham, widow of John Graham.

This house was sold to Renzie & Henrietta Tanzell on Aug. 21, 1935. Sadly they lost the home to the bank and the Lawrence Cooperative Bank foreclosed. At the auction T. Edwin Andrew, Jr. of Methuen, son of Edwin Sr. of the Andover Shawsheen Realty Co. purchased the property an took the deed on July 19, 1938. Andrew Jr. also worked for the A.S.R.Co. A restriction in the deed stated that should the owner want to sell, other then to a relative, prior to Jan. 1, 1948, that the offer had to be presented to the ASRCo. for first option to buy the property back. In this case they had to bid. The deed was then sold back to the Andover Shawsheen Realty Co. on July 30, 1940.

Robert T & Amelia M. Viveney then purchased the home on July 30, 1940 but owned for 15 months. The property was then purchased by Arthur H. & Dorothy Minzner on Oct. 4, 1941. Arthur was a printer. Dorothy was a school teacher and taught second grade at the new West Elementary School from 1953-1960. She earned her BA at Boston University.