Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1830.
The Andover post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Andover’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1888Sheet 2 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Andover.
The town's area was first settled c. 1795. The Town of Andover was established in 1824 from part of the town of Independence. The size of the town was increased in 1855 by a part of the town of Wellsville.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Andover, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Isaac Downes was b. in Lebanon, Me., in 1790; came to Andover in 1817; d. in Andover March 15, 1848; m., April, 1820, Mibiam, dau. of Philip Cilley of Andover; she d. in Andover, 1877.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in Andover July 14, 1865; m., Nov. 12, 1824, Roxanna Currier, b. in Acworth Dec. 7, 1804; d. in Andover Dec. 4, 1866. James Gale moved to Andover in 1815 and resided at West Andover.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
An act was passed June 1801, by the General Court, requiring the Treasurer of the Proprietors of Andover to pay over one half of all the monies and estate, which was, or hereafter may be, in his hands as treasurer, unto the Trustees of the Free School in the North Parish in Andover, for instruction in the school ; the other half was paid over to Trustees appointed in the South Parish, the income to be appropriated for instruction in the free schools
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Andover. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Andover.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Andover’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 598 and 1,996 people in every census since 1830.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Andover’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Andover post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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