In 1982 a small group of Andover residents, including George and Barbara Upton, Jim and Dorothy Dunn, and Kimball Elkins decided that Andover needed a formalized Historical Society to preserve and conserve the history of the town. Part of the impetus for their movement was the donation of an early settler's canoe that had been found in Hopkins Pond in Andover two years before. This rare and historic item needed a home for display and preservation. The Society was incorporated with by-laws, tax-free status and about 100 members, and the first meeting was held in October, 1982.
The following year the Potter Place Railroad Station was donated to the Society as a home for its museum by Charles and Elynor Taylor of Wilmot. The Station contains an authentic "stationmaster's office," rooms for other exhibitions, and a gift shop.
In 1987 a Northern Railroad Caboose and Snow Plow were obtained and moved to the tracks near the station. Although in 1993 the Society parted with the snow plow because it was unable to restore it as it needed, the Caboose remains as part of the historic railroad exhibit of the Society.
In 1989 the Potter Place Station was accepted in the National Register of Historic Places. That same year saw the beginning of an Annual Fair, first named the "Turn-of-the-Century" Day Fair, then the Nineteenth Century Fair, and now called the Old Time Fair. This Fair is held the first weekend in August and is now looked upon as Andover's Old Home Day. The Fair consists of a flea market, an auction, a farmer's market, craft market and demonstrations, entertainment of various sorts, children's games and activities such as rides on an old railroad handcar and other amusements. This Fair, plus membership dues, sustain the Society which receives no tax support from the town.
The Society Museum is open every weekend from Memorial Day to Columbus Day, and the Society holds several meetings throughout the year with speakers on topics of interest to the townspeople, and occasionally Historic Walks to places of interest in the town.
In 1994 the Emons Store and Potter Place Post Office were bought and donated to the Society by H. Everett Humphreys. The buildings are across the road from the Railroad Station Museum and serve as added museums and office space for the Society. In 1995 the Society received a grant funding a professional review of our facilities which led to the building of a climate controlled room for the preservation of our artifacts and papers and to the renovation of all of the buildings, the maintenance of which is a continuing concern for the Society.
In 2003 and 2004 three more pieces of property were added to the Society's responsibilities -– the Potter Place Railroad Freight House was donated by the Amos Johnson Trust; the "Little Red Schoolhouse" on Tucker Mountain Road in East Andover (the only remaining original schoolhouse in town) was donated by Frank and Madelyn Baker; and the 7 acres surrounding the Potter Place Highway Marker on Routes 4 and 11, almost contiguous to the other Potter Place properties, was donated by Dalbello Sports.
For more information, you can contact us at:
Andover Historical Society
PO Box 167
Andover NH 03216