Poor Wagon Shop
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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. 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 is located behind the present Christian Science church on Main Street, south of Shawsheen Square.
See
- "Poor Wagon Shop became underground stop, 'casino'", Andover Townsman, July 22, 2010.