The Andover Townsman has started a new column, “All Those Years Ago: From the Pages of Old Townsmans.” You can click here to read the March 26th column, or stop by the Historical Society library to page through some old Townsmans yourself. You never know what — or who — you’ll find!
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At the moment, Historical Society volunteer researchers are working on a project for the town Conservation Department. Reading through Townsmans from the 1940s, the volunteers are learning about Andover’s wartime Victory Garden effort that included rabbits, and chickens, and pigs…oh my!
Fifty people enjoyed Friday night’s 
Twenty people enjoyed Sunday afternoon’s Andover Neighborhood Program on Andover’s historic mill villages. 
Tickets are still available for our fourth annual antiques appraisal event, 
This week we’re featuring another photograph from our new exhibit, 
In this close up, we can see that the calendar on the wall is dated April 1903. We can’t get enough detail to see what the other pictures on the wall are.
Today’s historic photograph features a man who was once well known in Andover. Allen Hinton was born a slave in North Carolina. He moved to Andover in 1864 after he freed himself from the last man who owned him. Hinton and his wife, Mary, worked at Phillips Academy waiting tables, taking in laundry, and selling snacks to the students. Taking the advice of a student, Allen and Mary began to make and sell ice cream to the students. Business grew and in 1901, the Hintons purchased the farm on Hidden Road that they had been renting. The Hinton Ice Cream Farm was an Andover fixture until 1951. The Hinton family story is one of the many stories featured in our newest exhibit, From Near & Far: 350 Years of Making Andover Home. The exhibit opens Friday, March 20 and runs through October 31.
While we may have just shoveled out from Monday’s snow, spring is next week, which means summer is on its way! With summer comes the Andover Farmer’s Market. The Andover Farmers’ Market kicks off its third season on Saturday July 11 2009!! Growing larger, more diverse, and more exciting each year the market will return on the lawn at the Andover Historical Society located in the heart of downtown Andover at 97 Main St. This picturesque setting is the ideal location to peruse fresh and locally produced products from your favorite vendors from past markets as well as new vendors with exciting new products, hands-on demonstrations and family friendly activities in the barn.
