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.

18 Fletcher St. Carlton & Marjorie Miller House - 9-82 lot #8 – 0.26 acres.

The first tenant of record in 1925 was James Nelson Jr. age 21 a Machinist who was living on Haverhill St. on April 1, 1924. James is also here in 1926. The 1928 Directory list William M. & Helen E. Burnham. William is a fireman for the Boston & Maine Railroad. They lived here until they purchased #8 Fletcher St on Feb. 6, 1935. The 1935 Directory lists George A. & Ruth Riopelle at #18. George is in Sales and they have a daughter Eva B. The 1937 Directory has William F. Trauschke and Roland E. as tenants. William is a gardener and Roland a laborer.

On June 30, 1941 Carlton W. & Marjorie E. Miller purchased the home. They had rented the house next door at #16 in 1936-37 and would be the first and only private resident to own the house at #18. Carlton William Miller was born May 25, 1906, in Buffalo, NY and married in 1927 to Marjorie Engrid Moody b. 1906 in NH daughter of Alma Moody. Carl was a Service Foreman for Royal Typewriter Co. on Essex St. in Lawrence. They had lived in Methuen before moving to Shawsheen Village. Carl & Marjorie had five children; Marjorie A. b. 1929, Carlton Jr. b. 1934, Ruth b. 1937, George W. b. 1942 and Marilyn J. b. 1944. The Carltons owned the home for 19½ years and were residents of Fletcher St. for 26 years. The State took the property by Eminent Domain on Dec. 29, 1960. All residents were listed in the 1961 Town Directory. The Millers moved a sort distance away to 13 Shepley St. which they purchased on June 14, 1961. They were residents of this neighborhood the remainder of their lives. Marjorie died in 1969 and Carl in 1972. Borth are interred at West Parish Garden Cemetery, Andover, MA.