Francis Wyman Road — is that you?
Let’s go back to elementary school and play “What do you see/What do you wonder?”
In case they’re not clear, the notes say: “Henry A. Manning. Taken at home place. Burlington Mass 1909.”
There was indeed a Henry A. Manning in Burlington at the time. Here’s a 1910 article about the annual Manning family gathering in Billerica. Henry’s name is highlighted, followed by “Burlington.”
Early 1900s maps show the Burlington Mannings lived at the end of Francis Wyman Road near Cambridge Street.
But the photo raises questions with no easy answers.
Is that house still there? Maybe. It resembles 4 Francis Wyman Road before it received an addition. The house dates back to 1798 and is known historically as the Shedd house. The driveway in the photo is now Teaberry Lane, it seems.
So what’s the problem? Manning descendants say Henry lived across the street at recently-demolished 5 Francis Wyman, which did not resemble the house in the photo. Fogelberg’s history book mentions a family relationship between the Shedds and Mannings, so maybe both houses were “home place” at the time. Also, the note says the photo was taken “at” home place, not “of” home place.
Here’s a quick look at both sides of the road. Hmmm . . .
Go back to that old photo. Why are there rails on the street? Burlington did have an electric trolley line in the early 1900s, before the automobile put it out of business — but the line ran down Cambridge Street to Billerica’s Pinehurst amusement park and ultimately Lowell. It didn’t turn onto Francis Wyman Road. Moreover, the photo doesn’t show any poles for overhead cables. Instead, there are mature trees.
These next photos from the same collection should show Francis Wyman Road. We all know the road hits a valley near the old Francis Wyman house and then rises to the left, so these make sense at first.
But more questions arise.
- Why does that sweeping left turn look so drastic? Is it because we’re not used to seeing the road “naked” without trees and houses?
- Where is the Francis Wyman house? Shouldn’t it be somewhere on the right?
- The hill on the horizon, showing at least one structure — is that the Luther Road/Foster Road area?
- Where are the street rails we saw in the house photo?
very interesting Thank you for sharing!!!
The tracks could have been a horse drawn trolley that went to a pond cutting ice or a quarry daily. There are some ponds located off of Francis Wyman in what is now the Minute Man Sportsman Club area. One looks like it could have been a quarry and it only shows up on the Google Satellite Map. Burlington had quarries as it is the first rocky/hilly place (outside of Stoneham) outside of Boston. It also had some of the first mills (Sawmill Rd.) for that reason – hills equal rushing water.