20 MAIN ST
architectural description
NRIND NRMRA
Other notes: Bankroft & Cailahan contractors paid $560.
Other features: good and substantial brick edifice, 55' wide and 86' long, two stories high; edifice comprises a spacious hall in the second story with a small gallery & four anterooms.
historical narrative
Present owner: Town of Andover
Themes: architectural, community development, political
Historical significance: First town meetings after the division of Andover and North Andover (April 10, 1855) were held in the furniture warerooms of Henry F. Barnard. Building of town hall followed soon after 1855 separation. Andoverites previously had to go to North Andover to transact town business. Article 21, Warrant for meeting on March 3, 1856: "To procure a site and plan for creation of said house a sum not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars ... to defray cost of said town house committee: Peter Smith, Jacob Chikering, Nathaniel Swift, John Dove, William Jenkins bargaining with W. Phillip Foster for a lot of land on easterly side of Main Street, between the dwelling house formerly of Jacob Shed, deceased and Buck House formerly occupied by Benjamin Abbott, deceased ..."
Building designed by Theodor Voelkers (or Volkers) a Boston architect. Abbott and Clement were the builders. Total cost for land and building was about $15,500.
Many older Andover residents remember the gala George Washington balls held annually in the ballroom which extended the length of the building and comprised the second floor. In the late 1920s, this ballroom was divided into functional offices and the high second floor divided to make a third floor.
Other notes:
1852 Richardson Residence
1872 "
1884 - 1896 not listed
1906 Town Hall
1926 - 1953 not listed
1957 Town Hall
1992 Visitor Center, US Postal Service branch
bibliography/references
1980 National Register
Andover Advertiser: May 29, 1858
Dec. 25, 1858
Jan. 1, 1859
Andover Historical Society files
See Institutions, Town "Town House"
Directories 1926, 1932, 1943, 1953
Maps 1852, 1872, 1884, 1896, 1906, 1930
inventory data
| Place: | Andover Center |
| Historic District: | Not Applicable |
| Address: | 20 main st |
| Historic Name: | Andover Town Hall |
| Present Use: | Andover Visitor Center, US Postal Office branch |
| Original Use: | Town House |
| Date of Construction: | before 1858 |
| Source: | Andover Advertiser |
| Style/Form: | Romanesque Revival |
| Architect/Builder: | Theodore Voelckers; builders Abbott & Clement; Fasenham & Giles did mason work |
| Foundation: | |
| Wall/Trim: | red brick |
| Roof: | |
| Outbuildings / Secondary Structures | |
| Major Alterations: | tower added in 1863 Interior altered 1920's |
| Condition: | |
| Moved: | |
| Demolished: | |
| Acreage: | less than one acre; lot size: 980 sq ft; approx. frontage: 382' |
| Setting: | |
| MHC inventory number: | ANV.326 |
| Recorded by: | Stack/Mofford; Brian Lee |
| Organization: | Andover Historical Commission |
| Date: | August 1977; July 1992 |
other historic buildings
- on main st
- in Not Applicable
- with architectural style Romanesque Revival
48 Clark Road
