The Andover post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sharon (1815), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 733 in 18902020 census: 972200 years
Founding year: the first Andover post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Andover’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Andover. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905Andover 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.
Every building
Andover, building by building, 1896–1926
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.
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.
Passages that mention Andover, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Ashtabula County, Ohio1878 · page 93Read the page →
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Twenty miles from Lake Erie, on the east line of the State of Ohio, is situated the township of Andover. It was settled by a population entirely from the eastern States, and solely agricultural in their pursuits until quite recently. Now two railroads unite at the centre, and a thriving village is growing up around the station. But rural as were the habits of this people, they have contributed largely of their numbers to the legal profession. Among the present and former members of the bar, we notice the following as having been residents of that township at the time they commenced the study of that profession, viz. : B. F. Wade,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Ashtabula County, Ohio1878 · page 237Read the page →
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“ Resolved (upon the petition of Anson J. Giddings, Benoni Andrews, and others), That so much of the present township of Andover as is included in surveyed township No. 9, in the second range, be set off and erected a separate township, to be known and designated by the name of Cherry Valley; and that an election for township officers be held at the house of Josiah Creery, on the 4th of July next.”
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Ashtabula County Ohio1924 · page 253Read the page →
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Ashtabula County, taken on June 8, 1827, when they passed the following resolution: “Resolved: (Upon the petition of Anson J. Giddings, Benoni Andrews and others) that so much of the present town of Andover as is included in the surveyed township No. 9, in the second range, be set off and erected a separate township to be known and designated by the name of Cherry Valley, and that an election for township officers be held at the house of Josiah Creery on the Fourth of July next.”
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.
Timeline
Andover, 1815 to 1921
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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 (20), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, 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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