Your Guide to Buying a Home in Andover, MA

Buying a Home in Andover, Massachusetts

Andover is located in Essex County

The town of Andover is located in Essex County, the most northerly county in the eastern part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Andover is about twenty­-three miles north of the state capital, Boston. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, Andover is bordered on the north by the city of Lawrence and the town of North Andover, on the east by the town of North Reading, on the south by the towns of and Wilmington and on the west by the towns of Tewksbury and Methuen. The Town has 31.99 square miles of land area.

Andover was originally settled in 1636 under the Indian name of Cochicewick, a waterway in the region. The community was incorporated in 1646 as the Town of Andover, named after a town in England where many of the settlers had come from.

From the early days of the town, manufacturing was a major concern. The region's first powder mill was established in 1775; the manufacture of paper began in 1789; and in the early nineteenth century, woolen mills, a major New England industry of the era, were constructed. While all of these types of manufacturing have since moved elsewhere, Andover continues to attract major industry.

The Town is governed by open Town Meeting, a unique New England form of government that allows all citizens of the community the opportunity to participate in the financial and business decisions of a town. The Town is administered by a Town Manager and five member Board of Selectmen. The Town provides general governmental services such as fire and police protection, disposal of garbage and rubbish, sewer and water services, schools for grades kindergarten through twelve, street maintenance, parks, recreation facilities, and library services. Vocational education is provided by the Greater Lawrence Technical High School, located in Andover. The Andover Housing Authority provides programs and housing for the elderly. Service type organizations such as the Andover Village Improvement Society and the Trustees of the Reservation provide conservation and open space acquisition programs.

Andover operates its own water supply, purification, and distribution system, and supplies these services to the vast majority of the community. Sewerage systems are primarily in the central or downtown district of the community and are administered jointly by the Town and the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District, the processor of the waste materials.

The community is bisected by two major highway systems, Routes 93 and 495, and a number of lesser highway systems including Routes 28, 133, 114 and 125. Other types of transportations include commuter rail service from Andover to the metropolitan Boston area though the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. Bus service is provided in the local area by the Merrimack Valley Transit Authority.

Although primarily a residential community, Andover has substantial industry located within industrially zoned parks. Interstate Routes 93 and 495, along with the community's proximity to Boston, a major national business district, make Andover a sought after location for many large manufacturing concerns. In particular, Andover has attracted companies involved in national defense contracting, computer hardware and software and the medical products industries. Included among these large concerns are Raytheon, Hewlett­Packard Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, and AT&T Network Systems. Other large companies with facilities in Andover include The Gillette Company, Genetics Institute, Dynamics Research Corporation, and Brockway­Smith.

The town of Andover has evolved over a period of years into an affluent community with a highly desirable and valued residential and business address. The community's physical proximity to Boston, the Massachusetts seashore, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire, along with excellent major highway access, help to create a desirable location. These same factors along with highly valued economic development and the inherent employment opportunities, have attracted many professionals to Andover. The housing demands of these professionals have created considerable demand for quality housing in the community. Andover's real estate market has historically been strong and resistant to economic downturns.

Municipal government's commitment to stability and excellence in services along with its highly regarded public school system, have further advanced, protected and preserved the reputation of Andover. The Town is noted for being the site of one of the oldest and most prestigious independent secondary schools in the United States, Phillips Academy. Founded in 1770 by Samuel Phillips, the school today has an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students. Phillips Academy alumni include such notables as former President George Bush, pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, former Yale President and baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti and former Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court Oliver Wendall Holmes Jr..

The combination of all of the physical, economic, governmental and social forces at work in the community have created a highly desirable atmosphere for townspeople and have made Andover a desirable location for raising a family.

In 1996, Andover celebrated its 350th anniversary as a community. The theme for this celebration is home of 'America'. The patriotic song America was written in 1831 by Samuel Francis Smith while attending the Andover Theological Seminary. As Andover looks back to 1646 and the birth of our town, through our richly woven history to date, and looks forth to the twenty-first century, we truly feel our community is one of the keystones of this great nation.