Fletcher Street was originally built with 14 homes, 10 were single family residences and 4 were double houses. With the construction of Route 495 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts took every property by eminent domain on Dec. 29, 1960. Five homes on Binney St. were also lost. By 1963 Fletcher Street no longer existed. Some homes were moved to new locations but the majority was demolished.
One of the goals of the Andover Preservation Commission is to identify historic places and sites. We re-list Fletcher St. as it was once a historic part of the Shawsheen Village development. We also honor the families that made their homes on Fletcher St. and their contribution to the community.
The homes were built as part of the Shawsheen Village development from 1918-1924 by William M. Wood, President of the American Woolen Company. With the construction of the Shawsheen Mill housing was necessary for operatives employed in the mill. 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, then later moved into the Administration Building.
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. Mr. Wood also incorporated two family duplexes in every section of the new Village.
The properties came with deed restrictions. No stores, factories, or other buildings of any business nature shall be erected.. only professional, doctor, dentist or other professional occupations,…No shed, hen houses or out buildings, except a one or two stall garage, which shall have a pitched roof and be of the same general architectural pattern & material, and of the same color, as the building on said premises,…have a cement, macadam, asphalt or crushed stone driveway. No single house erected less than$3500 and no double houses less than $5000. All buildings shall be kept painted white, buff or gray, all with the same setback from the street.
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 AWCo. 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.

5 – 7 Fletcher Street – Wilfred & Bertha Dwyer House 9-72 Two Family – 9000 sq. ft.
The first two tenants listed on April 1,1924 were Samuel & Rose A. Ayotte at #5. Samuel is listed as a Loom fixer at the American Woolen Co. They lived here about ten years. In 1932 Samuel is working at J. W. Company.
#7 is occupied by Fred S. & Louise Pidgeon, Weaver for American Woolen Co. A son Frederick H. age 29 in 1925 is a salesman. They lived here in 1930 but no longer listed in 1932.

The property was finally sold to Wilfred T. & Bertha L. Dwyer on July 13, 1940. Dwyers would own for 20 years before the property was taken on Dec. 29, 1960 by the State for construction of Route 495. Wilfred Theodore Dwyer was born August 18, 1908 in Lincoln Nebraska, son of Michael & Annie (Williamson) Dwyer. His father was a Dairy farmer, but moved the family to Andover as they are listed at 53 Whittier St. in the 1920 Census. Wilfred T. graduated from Punchard High School in 1925, when to college and became an Industrial Engineer. Wilfred married on Nov. 12, 1932 in Plaistow, NH to Bertha Smith b. 1906 in Lawrence, MA dau. of John & Nellie (Buchan) Smith. They had two sons, Edward S. b. 1939 and Douglas S. b. 1947. Edward graduated from the last class of PHS in 1957. The Dwyers moved out in 1961 but house survived. The two-family home was the last remaining house on Fletcher Street and was sold and moved to a new location in Lawrence, MA.