Welcome to North Andover

North Andover is a town in Essex County on the south bank of the Merrimack River, about 24 miles north of Boston. It is where the original town of Andover began, and it pairs the Old Center and its Town Common with a downtown along Main Street, the 1800s mill neighborhood of Machine Shop Village, Lake Cochichewick, Weir Hill, and part of Harold Parker State Forest.

About North Andover

Native people fished the rivers and brooks here long before English settlement, and the name Cochichewick comes from them. English settlers built around Lake Cochichewick in the early 1640s, and in 1646 Rev. John Woodbridge bought the land from the sachem Cutshamache for six pounds and a coat. The settlement was incorporated as Andover that year. The colonial poet Anne Bradstreet lived here. The Parson Barnard House, built around 1715, still stands near the Old Center.

In the early 1700s the town split into North and South parishes, and on April 7, 1855, the North Parish, home to the first settlement and the original town center, became the separate town of North Andover, while the South and West parishes kept the name Andover. Mills shaped the 1800s: a carding mill opened at Sutton and Main streets in 1802, Nathaniel Stevens started a woolen mill at Stevens Pond in 1813, and the machine shop on Cochichewick Brook that became Davis & Furber made textile machinery from the 1830s. North Andover borders Lawrence and Methuen to the northwest, Haverhill to the northeast, Boxford to the east, Middleton to the southeast, North Reading to the south, and Andover to the west.

Getting Around

North Andover has no commuter rail station. The closest stops on the MBTA Haverhill Line are Lawrence station, just over the line near downtown, and Andover station, both with trains to North Station in Boston. I-495 crosses the western part of town, Route 114 runs from Lawrence through North Andover toward Middleton and Salem, and Routes 125 and 133 cross the town. Lawrence Municipal Airport, a general aviation airport, is in North Andover.

North Andover Real Estate

North Andover real estate is a mix of single-family neighborhoods, historic homes, and condominium communities, including some on former mill sites. Center-chimney houses and saltboxes from the early 1700s survive, along with Federal houses, Greek Revival homes and 1830s worker cottages in Machine Shop Village, and Queen Anne and Shingle Style houses from the late 1800s. Tavern Acres, laid out by the Olmsted Brothers in the early 1900s, has Colonial Revival, Dutch Colonial, and Craftsman homes around the Stevens Memorial Library.

The North Andover Center, Machine Shop Village, and Tavern Acres historic districts are listed on the National Register, along with the Parson Barnard House, the Samuel Osgood House, and Osgood Hill. The Old Center is also a local historic district. Areas include the Old Center, downtown along Main Street, and Machine Shop Village.

Living in North Andover

Weir Hill, a Trustees reservation of 194 acres, has about 4 miles of trails and more than a mile of shoreline on Lake Cochichewick, the town's drinking water supply. The Trustees also run the Stevens-Coolidge House and Gardens, and parts of Harold Parker State Forest and the Ward Reservation reach into town. Stevens Pond and Sharpners Pond are town recreation spots.

The Old Center has the 1836 North Parish Church, the 1829 Brick Store, and a statue of Phillips Brooks on the Town Common, and the North Andover Historical Society cares for the Parson Barnard House. The Stevens Memorial Library on Main Street opened in 1907, and the Stevens Estate at Osgood Hill is an 1886 Shingle Style mansion. Each spring the Sheep Shearing Festival comes to the Town Common.

Questions About North Andover

Does North Andover have a train station?

No. The closest commuter rail stops are Lawrence and Andover stations on the Haverhill Line, both with trains to North Station in Boston.

How are North Andover and Andover related?

They were one town, Andover, from 1646 until 1855. North Andover holds the original 1640s settlement and old town center and became a separate town in 1855, while the south part kept the Andover name.

What kinds of homes are in North Andover?

North Andover has early 1700s houses near the Old Center, 1800s mill-era homes in Machine Shop Village, early 1900s homes in Tavern Acres, suburban neighborhoods, and condominium communities.

To see homes for sale in North Andover, browse the listings below. Thinking of buying or selling in North Andover? Call (617) 848-9616 or get a free home valuation. North Andover is part of our North of Boston guide.

Photos: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0 and John Phelan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.