Andover Historical Society
and Our Neighbors

Built in 1819, the Blanchard House was a functioning farm on the edge of downtown. Crops were grown in fields that stretched to Locke Street (then called Cross Street) north to roughly the current site of the municipal park lot on Main Street. The barn housed a small number of chickens, dairy cows, and other livestock. In addition to raising two sons, Blanchard and his wife took in boarders from Phillips Academy. There were often as many as fifteen people living here.

In 1849, Amos Blanchard Jr. sold the house to Edward Taylor, treasurer of the Andover Theological Seminary. Taylor was a boarder of the Blanchards.  He moved to Andover in 1837 to be an accountant for Marland Mill.  Taylor never married.  He left the house to his niece Adelaide Merrill, who moved in with her uncle in 1853 and grew up in the house. Adelaide and her husband Selah would first rent and then sell the home to Henry S. Robinson. Robinson’s widow Julia left the property to her sister, Caroline Underhill. In 1929, Miss Underhill transferred the property to the Andover Historical Society on condition that she was allowed to live there for the rest of her days. Ms. Underhill served as live-in curator and hostess until 1957.

The photograph above depicts 97 Main Street sometime in the 1880s. Note the differences to the front porch, the fence, and the dirt road and path in front of the house. Image from the AHS collection, #1980.073

Universalist Meeting House,
96 Main Street, Corner of Punchard and Main

This is a model of the Andover Universalist Society Meeting House at 96 Main Street (currently the site of Ultimate Perk Coffee). In the 1830s and 1840s, Universalism was one of the fasting growing religious movements in America, and by 1840 was the ninth largest denomination in the United States. The Andover Universalist Society was formed by a meeting of forty-six men in November of 1837. Failing to receive permission to use the Andover Masonic Hall as a meeting house, the group voted to build their own hall at a cost of “not more than $2500.” This single story wooden frame structure was built a year later in 1838. The group maintained a strong membership for only about twenty-five years. With declining numbers, the Society officially dissolved in 1879.

The Free Christian Church also met in this building briefly after forming in 1846, before building their own house of worship. The town of Andover purchased the building from the Universalists in the 1860s and used it as the Central District grammar school for several years, until the student population grew too large for the building to contain. It was then sold and moved in two sections to 9 Bancroft Road, where it was used as a barn for over a century. Sadly, the building was demolished in 1987. Model from the AHS collection, #1986.16

Meeting House, Circa 1987

These are photographs of the former Universalist Meeting House, taken in 1987 just before it was demolished.

The roof line, window placements, and column-style corners are still evident. Note the heavy post beams inside the building.

Photos: AHS collection, # 1993.509.1,  1992.710.2, 1992.710.3, 1992.710.9, 1992.710.13 & 1993.510.19

Major Walker House, 71 Main Street, Circa 1880

As with many other images here, this site is almost impossible to identify by the building in the photo. Now the site of Sovereign Bank, this house was demolished in 1931 to make way for the new post office. The house you see in this image was built around 1800 by Major Abbott Walker. In 1814, the house was occupied by Reverend Justin Edwards, minister of South Parish and one of the founders of the New England Tract Society.

The Andrews-Minor family resided in the house until about 1909. In 1911, the newly-founded Andover Historical Society was housed in one room of this large house, soon expanding to two rooms.  The image above show the large open parcel of land that existed next to the house along Chestnut Street for many years. Baxter’s Service Station, now Andover Gulf, was built there in 1936. Photos: AHS collection, #1992.1104 and 1911.89

The Hulme and Scott Homes/Olde Andover Village,
89 - 93 Main Street

In 1902, Andover Dentist Dr. Albert Hulme built the large house at 93 Main Street on the left of this photo.  He maintained his practice at the address for over fifty years. Dr Cyrus Scott, MD, set up his medical practice in the building on the right in the 1890s, and remained there until 1931.  The house served as a small inn for several years before Dr. Nathaniel Stower opened his practice there.  Optometrist Dr. William Emmons also had an office at this address for many years.  While both these buildings still exist, they are almost impossible to see.  They are at the core of the largest commercial block in downtown Andover, Olde Andover Village.

Olde Andover Village is probably one of the most controversial buildings ever constructed along Main Street.  In 1961, contractor and architectural designer C. Lincoln Giles bought and renovated both properties.  Rather than demolish the two grand homes, Giles built around and through the two original buildings creating new retail spaces and an enclosed courtyard.  Another major addition was added to the rear of the complex in the late 1980s.

From across the street, one can still see the detailed roof lines and ornate features of the original houses rising out of the structure.  While the complex is home to many popular and beloved Andover institutions such as the Andover Bookstore and the Lantern Brunch, the structure has been often lamented for obscuring the architectural treasures hidden within.

NEXT: Andover Town House Area