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A−History
History · Andover Township

Andover Township’s post office opened in 1826, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 81% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the John Henderson House. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1890.

1826first post office
1on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Andover Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Andover Township began

When was Andover Township founded?

1826

The Andover Township post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, West Andover (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 733 in 18902020 census: 2,577200 years

How historic is Andover Township?

A−

More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Andover Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Andover Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Andover Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Andover Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1826, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194023.7% of homes (±7.7) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 3.9 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 81%
NewerOlder

Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Andover Township’s 3.9 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Andover Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19054 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1994. Watch Andover Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1826: 200 years of Andover Township.
★ What stands out · On the map

Andover Township on the map, 1905 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Andover Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Andover Township on the 1905 USGS mapAndover Township on the 1959 USGS mapAndover Township on the 1970 USGS mapAndover Township on the 1994 USGS map1905Andover sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Andover Township.

Timeline

Andover Township, 1851 to 1910

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe West Andover post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1906Post officeThe West Andover post office closes
  6. 1910In the archiveAndover, OH - Apr. 19, 1910
The story

How Andover Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Andover Township.

Read it all →

David Lindsey, writing in 1955, observes that "New England Yankees, moving into Ohio's Western Reserve in 1798, brought with them the name Andover from a township in Tolland County, Connecticut, birthplace of many of the migrants. General Henry Champion, second largest shareholder in the Connecticut Land Company, first acquired Andover Township in the drawing for lands held at Hartford in 1798."

A post office named Sharon was established in 1815, and changed to Andover in 1826.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Andover Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s6 items
Andover, OH - Apr. 19, 19101910Andover, OH - Apr. 19, 1910Sherman House1912Sherman HousePostcardSherman House1912Sherman HousePostcardHot Springs Bath House1913Hot Springs Bath HousePostcardHot Springs Bath House1913Hot Springs Bath HousePostcardPublic Square, looking East1916Public Square, looking EastPostcard
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Andover, OH - Apr. 19, 1910
Retake this viewAndover, OH - Apr. 19, 1910, 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Andover Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Andover Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
John Henderson House
John Henderson House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
John Henderson HouseGreek Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Andover Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,269

Between 733 and 1,269 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Andover Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, West Andover, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Andover Country MeadowsWest Andover
Gone or out of use
West Andover Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Andover Township
West Andover

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Andover Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAndover, OH - Apr. 19, 1910: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Williamsfield TownshipIts storyBRichmond TownshipIts storyBCherry Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Andover Township’s history

What year was Andover Township founded?

The Andover Township post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Andover Township rank for history?

Andover Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Andover Township?

One place: the John Henderson House (listed 1976).

How old are the homes in Andover Township?

24% of Andover Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1978.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.