The Caroline M Underhill Research Center contains extensive materials that document the history of Andover since its founding in 1646.

Resources include maps, genealogies, family records, architectural plans, house histories, yearbooks, street directories, and transcripts of town meetings, beginning in 1656. The Society’s photography collection contains over 10,000 photographs and continues to grow. Images of Andover’s development from the late 1840s to the present include family portraits, holiday events, sport clubs, businesses, parades, class photos, mill workers, and many other subjects.

Genealogy and Local History

Published and non-published sources of Andover families make this a valuable genealogy center in New England. The Charlotte Helen Abbott Collection contains her works from 1853 to 1920 and is the beginning for any search. Church records, cemetery inventories and family files round out the collection. We have extensive records on the Abbott, Chandler, Foster, Bailey, Jenkins, Carrier, Wardwell, Peters, Holt, Osgood, Frye, Ames and Poor families.

Scholars and people interested in local history come to our research center to learn about a wide variety of topics. Some of the most popular subjects:

• Martha Carrier and Andover’s role in the Salem Witch Trials
• The Anti-Slavery Movement
• Andover During the Civil War
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Anne Bradstreet
• Early settlement of Andover
• Phillips Academy
• Andover Theological Seminary
• Architectural history & how to research “my” old house
• William Wood and the Development of Shawsheen Village
• Black History, especially Salem Poor and others who served in Revolutionary War
• Andover Village Improvement Society

If you are unable to come in person, you may submit a research request. Fees for research are $20 an hour, plus $.50 per photocopy. Please send a detailed written request to:

Research Committee
Andover Historical Society
97 Main Street
Andover, MA 01810

or E-Mail your research request to: research@andoverhistorical.org

Our photograph collection includes more than 15,000 photographs spanning from the Civil War through today. In addition to modern color and black & white photographs, numerous examples of tintypes, ambrotypes, and daguerrotypes are also part of our extensive collection. The photographs are housed in our library and archives and are available for study during library hours, Tuesdays through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. Reproductions are also available for a fee.

Subjects include family gatherings, historic home and buildings, school graduations, natural disasters, town organization, parades, and many more.

Currently, a project is underway to digitize and catalogue the entire collection to both protect the original photographs and, at the same time, make then more accessible to researchers. If you are interested in volunteering to help with this project, please call 978.475.2236 or email volunteer@andoverhistorical.org.