North Billerica Painters — Concord River mill village

Francis Faulkner started a woolen mill on the Concord River here in 1811. The Talbots followed with a dyewood mill in 1839 and their own woolen mill in 1857, built opposite Faulkner's. According to the Massachusetts Historical Commission's town survey, both mills hit their peak output in the 1920s, and the Boston & Maine car shops added more jobs in the same period. The survey calls this an authentic early industrial landscape, with well-preserved mills and housing along the river. Much of that area is listed on the National Register as the Billerica Mills Historic District (1983), and the town separately maintains a local North Billerica Mills historic district.

Housing went up in waves. The MHC lists wood-frame two-story row houses of about 1835–45, Greek Revival double cottages from roughly 1845–60, and plain mid-Victorian doubles in the 1860s. Between 1870 and 1915, much of the new building here was double houses and cottages in Victorian Gothic and Queen Anne styles, put up for mill hands. The town's historical resources list records about two dozen Talbot Mill Housing entries on Wilson Street, most with paired house numbers, dated from about 1860 to 1892, plus two larger blocks at 68–78 and 80–90 Wilson.

Census Tract 3165, Block Group 4 contains addresses on Wilson Street and Talbot Avenue. Of its 367 units, 39.5% were built in 1939 or earlier and 85.0% before 1980. Two-unit buildings hold 39.2% of units, about as many as single-family detached houses (40.9%), and only 36.2% of units are owner-occupied. The margins of error are wide at this scale.

Double houses with two owners or a landlord

Most Talbot entries on Wilson Street carry paired house numbers, two homes under one roof, and 63.8% of occupied units in this block group are rented. Painting one side of a double house in a new color splits the facade, so it pays to agree on colors and timing with the neighbor or the other owner. For buildings run by an association, see condo painting in Billerica.

Siding and trim from before 1940

Close to 40% of these homes were built before 1940, and the mill-era doubles date to the 1800s. Wood that old may carry many coats; where the layers have cracked or lifted, they come off before priming so the new finish has a sound base. The Billerica exterior painting page describes that prep.

Lead paint and tenants

Federal RRP rules cover paid work that disturbs paint in housing built before 1978, which takes in 85% of units here. In rented units that also means giving occupants the required lead pamphlet and keeping them out of the work area. See our lead-safe painting page.

Review inside the mills district

The North Billerica Mills district is under the town's Historic Districts Commission. The posted by-law leaves paint color on purely residential buildings outside its review, but material or design changes and work on mixed-use buildings can need approval. A non-applicability letter from the commission is free.