The more you look into Wilmington’s history the more you come to realize that many of the homes around town have a story to tell.
With its proximity to Boston the Wilmington of yesterday was a lot busier than you might have imagined. Silver Lake brought summertime residents and tourists to town and helped to boost the economy throughout the area. Over the years a number of homes in Wilmington served as small businesses catering to both the tourist and full time resident population.
One such example was The Shawsheen Tea Room. Located on Shawsheen Avenue and built in the mid 1940’s, the house served as both a residence and a “restaurant” in its early days. In the older photo you can see two small, handwritten signs on the tree out front. These read “Ice Cream Cones” and “Dinner.”
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Until the mid 1970’s the bridge next to The Shawsheen Tearoom served as one of two automobile bridges over the railroad tracks. When the current Richmond Street was built the first bridge, on Bridge Street, was torn down and the second, next to the tearoom, was converted to a pedestrian bridge.
Today, this section of Shawsheen Ave. sees predominantly resident traffic and the former Shawsheen Tea Room serves as another private residence with a rich history.
