Andover
Located 23 miles north of Boston on the Merrimack River, Andover, Massachusetts was originally settled in 1636 and then incorporated in 1646. Its namesake is the English town many of the settlers came from.
Manufacturing played a major part in the development of Andover with the region’s first powder mill established in 1775, paper manufacturing began in 1789, and several woolen mills thrived in the early nineteenth century. Today, Andover is home to companies such as Raytheon, Gillette, Prudential Insurance, Hewlett-Packard, and more.
Native American History
The original settlement of Andover was named Cochichawicke after a local waterway by the Native Americans. The Native Americans living in what is now Andover were likely part of the Pennacook Confederacy and spoke the Algonquian language. They planted corn and tobacco and lived in seasonal camps. Early European settlers reported that they met little resistance when settling into the Merrimack Valley. This may have been due to a plague reducing the Native American population from 100,000 to 5,000 between 1615 and 1616.
Education
Andover is known internationally for being home to Phillips Academy, one of the oldest and most prestigious independent secondary prep schools in the United States. Phillips Academy Alumni include President George Bush, New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, former Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court Oliver Wendall Holmes Jr, former Yale President and baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti, actress Olivia Wilde, and Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of Law and Order SVU.
Access
Traveling to Andover is easy, with a variety of ways to access the town. Route 93 and 495 bisect Andover along with Routes 28, 133, 114, and 125. The MBTA provides two commuter rail service stations from Andover to the Boston Metro area, and the Merrimack Valley Transit Authority provides regional bus service.
