The Andover Historical Society’s museums in Potter Place open for the season on Saturday, May 21, at 10 AM.

The Andover Historical Society announces the opening of the Potter Place Railroad Station and JC Emons General Store in Potter Place on Saturday, May 21. The buildings are open during the summer on Saturdays from 10 AM to 3 PM and on Sundays from 12:30 to 3 PM. Admission is free.

The Potter Place railroad station, built in 1874, houses a significant portion of the Society’s historical collection. This station is an extremely well-preserved example of Victorian station design and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located on the Northern Railroad line (later the Boston and Maine Railroad) that ran from Boston to White River Junction in Vermont and on to Montreal. This station preserves the Station Master’s office and recreates the feeling of a busy railroad depot of the early- to mid-20th century.

The homestead site and grave of Richard Potter and his wife are located immediately across the tracks from the station.

A well-preserved caboose, the Central Vermont CV-4030, built in the early 1900s, is located beside the station and is open for visitors.

Adjacent to the station is the Potter Place freight house and a Boston and Maine railroad box car. The freight house, built in the early 1900s, retains almost all of its original features and appearance.

Across Depot Street from the station is the JC Emons Store and Potter Place Post Office dating from 1912. The store continued to serve the village until 1958 and the post office until 1988. The Society has restored it as an exhibit of a typical turn-of-the-century village store. The original tin ceiling has been rebuilt, and display cabinets and other store fixtures have been put in place. The Post Office area contains the original mailboxes and sorting table.