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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Andover (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Andover. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

A Few Details for Andover ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Andover was settled in 1642.
  • It was incorporated in 1646.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Andover is located in Essex County.

To see how the shape of Massachusetts' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Essex County: Middlesex, Suffolk & Rockingham (NH).

Below are the counties that are near Andover. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Andover:

  • Essex County     (The home county of Andover)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Andover, with the one closest to Andover listed first.
    • West Andover
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • West Andover is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Andover
    • Shawsheen Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Shawsheen Village is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawsheen Village
    • North Andover
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • North Andover is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Andover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,460 people
    • Lawrence
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lowell Junction
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Haggetts
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Methuen
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Methuen is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Methuen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50,910 people
    • West Boxford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • West Boxford is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Boxford
    • Boxford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Boxford is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,331 people
    • Tozier Corner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Ward Hill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Middleton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Andover, with the one closest to Andover listed first.
    • Tewksbury
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • West Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • West Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Village
    • North Reading
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Wilmington
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • North Billerica
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ayres City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Ayres City is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayres City
    • Dracut
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Lowell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Reading
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Reading is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,535 people
    • Billerica
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pinehurst
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Pinehurst is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
    • Burlington
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Burlington is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,432 people
  • Norfolk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Andover, with the one closest to Andover listed first.
    • Brookline Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Brookline Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline Village
    • Brookline
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Wellesley Farms
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms
    • Wellesley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Westbrook Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Westbrook Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village
    • Babson Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Babson Park is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park
    • Needham Heights
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Needham Heights is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Heights
    • Wellesley Hills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Wellesley Hills is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Hills
    • Needham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Needham is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,537 people
    • East Milton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Milton Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Milton Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Village
    • Montclair
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Andover, with the one closest to Andover listed first.
    • Bayside
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Bayside is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
    • Hull
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Kenberma
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Kenberma is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenberma
  • Suffolk County
  • Worcester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Andover, with the one closest to Andover listed first.
    • Shaker Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Shaker Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
    • Harvard
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Still River
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bolton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lunenburg Station
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Lunenburg Station is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg Station
    • Lunenburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Lancaster
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • North Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • North Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Village
    • Seventh Day Adventist Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
  • Merrimack County (NH)
    • South Hooksett
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • South Hooksett is located in Merrimack County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hooksett
  • Rockingham County (NH)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Andover, see our County-by-County Page for Andover.

Cemeteries Near Andover ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Andover.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Andover - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Andover covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Andover, with the one closest to Andover listed first.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Andover had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Andover had a population of 36,554 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Andover, with the one closest to Andover listed first.

  • West Andover
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • West Andover is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Andover
  • South Lawrence
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • South Lawrence is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lawrence
  • North Andover
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • North Andover is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Andover
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,460 people
  • Haggetts
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Lowell Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Lawrence
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Wilmington Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Wilmington Junction is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington Junction
  • Boxford Station
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Boxford Station is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxford Station
  • Tewksbury
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Methuen
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Methuen is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Methuen
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 50,910 people
  • West Boxford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • West Boxford is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Boxford
  • Wamesit ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Wamesit is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wamesit
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Silver Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Silver Lake is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
    • North Wilmington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • North Wilmington is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wilmington
    • North Reading
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Andover. See our List of 1890's Communities around Andover.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Andover ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 232 newspapers that have been published in the area around Andover.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Andover. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Andover and those printed in the larger area surrounding Andover.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<5> of Andover.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Andover:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MACRIS (for the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System). More information about the MHC and MACRIS can be found on their website: mhc-macris.net.

When visiting the MACRIS website, you might encounter their page requiring the 'Acceptance of Terms'. With your acceptance, you'll be transfered to the desired page.

<3>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<4>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Andover, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Andover) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.