Research uncovers history of an Andover "trail treasure"
In mid-October 2020, while out on Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway (SRKG) Trail 10, Anne Hewitt and I decided to detour south towards West Salisbury on the Kearsarge Mountain Road (also known as the Old Lead Mine Road). After about three miles we came upon this huge stone wall structure in the woods on the west side of […]
Home to former scenic view "The Birches"
Note: This is a third companion article to the extensive set of articles on East Andover road history written by Rita Norander. In 1788 the Andover Selectmen formally laid out a road two rods (33 feet) wide in East Andover village heading north on the line between lots 33 and 35 in the third range […]
Recognizes home of Winslow Eaves and Richard Potter
The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire (BHTNH) announced today further expansion of the Trail into Andover, sparked by a gift of a sculpture of legendary contralto Marian Anderson (1897-1993). Created by the renowned Andover sculptor Winslow Eaves (1922-2003), the sculpture will now become part of BHTNH’s permanent collection and will be on display at […]
But they could damage switches and crossings
Ice and snow buildup between the rails of a railroad track can cause derailment by causing the flanges on the locomotive and railroad car wheels to ride up and over the rail. Special plow attachments, called flangers, are attached to the snow plow to clear away the ice and snow from that area. To do […]
Warned engineers to sound the whistle
Whistle posts were positioned at approaches to grade crossing intersections to order the locomotive engineer to sound his whistle as a warning. These posts were positioned one quarter mile before the crossings and on the right side of the track to be visible to the engineer. At a typical speed of 30 miles per hour, […]
What the heck is this, and what was it used for? It’s about three feet long, one foot maximum width, strong wooden frame with iron straps on the ends, old canvas pieces hand-stitched on wide rawhide, 24-inch-long chains on each end. Previous owner unknown. If you know its purpose, please contact the Andover Historical Society, […]
Another East Andover road history article
Note: This is the second companion article to the extensive set of articles on East Andover road history written and published by Rita Norander. Valley Road in East Andover was laid out in 1788 as a private driftway to provide a route to drive livestock to the upland pastures on Tucker Mountain. In 1821, the […]
The Northern Railroad became the Rail Trail in 1992
The Northern Railroad, constructed in 1847-48, extends 70 miles from Concord, New Hampshire to White River Junction, Vermont. It was acquired by the Boston & Maine Railroad in 1887. The last scheduled passenger train on this line was in January 1965, and the last freight train was in May 1982. In 1992 the use of […]
This article is part of a set about East Andover roads
Sam Hill Road starts at Jerry Hersey’s farmstead on the Franklin Highway. It proceeds north about 3/4 mile to the Boisvert farmstead. The road then extends east over Cilley Hill, across the northwest corner of Franklin, and north into the Town of Hill. It had been known as Cilley Hill Road for years. But the […]
Historical documents show creation of Road Agent role
This photo of the massive amount of effort involved in removing snow after a large snowstorm is believed to have been taken on Sam Hill Road, formerly known as Cilley Hill Road. Photo: copied from Robie Family photo album When I came across these pictures, I was reminded of Andover’s recent Town Meeting with its […]