Poor Wagon Shop

William Poor and his son Joseph opened a blacksmith shop on Poor Street (named for an ancestor) in 1833. The blacksmith shop became the Poor Wagon Shop. William and Joseph were abolitionists and built wagons with false bottoms to help transport runaway slaves to NH on the Underground Railroad. William retired in 1895 and Joseph was forced to sell out a few years later due to poor health.

In 1906, William Wood, president of the American Woolen Company, moved the shop to his estate, Arden, on Main Street. He used it as a playhouse for his family and renamed it "the Casino." The building was located behind the present Christian Science Church on Main Street, south of Shawsheen Square. It burned down February 9, 2014.

...The Poor Wagon Shop on the Wood Estate.... click to enlarge

See

• "Poor Wagon Shop became underground stop, 'casino'", Andover Townsman, July 22, 2010.
• "History destroyed:'Suspicious' blaze at 1860s wagon shop on Wood Estate," Andover Townsman, February 13, 2014, p. 1.
• "From wagon shop to millionaire's playhouse," Andover Townsman, February 13, 2014, p. 6.
• "'Living link' extinguished," Andover Townsman, February 13, 2014, p. 6.
• "Recognizing the value of history," Andover Townsman, February 13, 2014, p. 7.

--Kim 12:41, October 31, 2011 (EDT) back to Main Page