Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Andover, Massachusetts

38 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1988. It stands in Andover town. It lies in ZIP code area 01810. It stands on Carmel Hill. The Survey maps it on the Lawrence quadrangle. 9,735 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 184 feet above sea level.

Andover within Essex County

Population over time

2 figures

Andover grew from 8,762 to 9,735 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	8,762
2020	9,735	+973 (+11%)

Then and now

1886 to 1988

The same ground, surveyed 102 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Andover, surveyed 1988

Topographic sheet of Andover, surveyed 1886

Topographic sheets covering this place

38 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Photographs

1 photograph, 1941

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

House in the Armenian settlement in West Andover, Massachusetts
Delano, Jack, 1941. Library of Congress

Fires nearby

80 since 2007

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 80 fires within 5 miles of Andover between 2007 and 2020, burning about 32 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 5 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Smoking	17
Debris and open burning	16
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	12
Recreation and ceremony	9
Misuse of fire by a minor	7
Arson/incendiarism	5
Equipment and vehicle use	4
Railroad operations and maintenance	4
Power generation/transmission/distribution	4
Natural	2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
28 September 2019	Recreation and ceremony	1.0 acres	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
21 September 2020	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
14 September 2020	Railroad operations and maintenance	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
14 September 2016	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	NORTH ANDOVER
8 August 2016	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	LAWERANCE
8 August 2016	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	LAWERANCE
5 August 2016	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	BOXFORD
20 August 2016	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	LAWERANCE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,786 shown

Museums hold 1,786 specimens collected within 10 miles of Andover between 1816 and 1975: 872 Animalia, 732 Plantae, 163 Fungi, 5 Protozoa, 5 Chromista, 5 Bacteria, 4 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A Brown, A E Preble, A S Gaunt and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Corylus americana Walter	1900	E. F. Williams
Populus grandidentata Michx.	1900	E. F. Williams
Lupinus L.	1816	Boott, F.M.B.	Mystic Pond, 6 miles from Boston.
Viola labradorica Schrank	1816	not recorded	Andover Turnpike, 6 miles from Boston U.S.A.
Diphyscium foliosum (Hedw.) D.Mohr	1822	ALCOTT
Arcyria oerstedii Rostaf., 1875	1826	F. A. Gilbert
Eleocharis robbinsii Oakes	1829	B. D. Greene
Microspora stagnorum (Kütz.) Lagerh.	1848	Collector unknown	on willow trees, Willow[?] Road
Hieracium venosum L.	1850	not recorded
Micranthes pensylvanica (L.) Haw.	1850	not recorded
Myosotis verna Nutt.	1850	A. P. Chute
Sarracenia purpurea L.	1850	not recorded

All 1,786 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

2 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Andover: 1 plant, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Perlite, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Sand and Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
	Wittemore Perlite Plant	Perlite	Plant

Every working recorded in Essex County

Storms nearby

25 since 1994

The National Weather Service names Andover in 25 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 12 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 3 lightning, 3 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
May 2004	Lightning	Andover	$200,000	no account filed
July 2008	Flash Flood	Andover	$150,000	Heavy rain fell across much of Lawrence and Andover, with the Automated Surface Observing System at Lawrence, MA (KLWM) recording 0.52 inches of rain in six minutes. This combined with a blocked culvert designed to drain runoff from Interstate 495 resulted in four to five feet of water inundating three homes on Binney Street in Andover. In addition, a large sinkhole formed on Shepard Street near the entrance of the Lawrence Industrial Park. Other reports of flooding included: motorists stuck in floodwaters on Route 133, flooding in the town hall basement, and minor street flooding.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	North Andover	$25,000	Trees, limbs, and wires on Second Street, Morris Street, Route 114 Eastbound, and Autumn Road were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Andover	$15,000	Trees were downed in North Andover on Salem, Appleton, and Dale Streets in North Andover. A tree was downed onto a car on Abbot Street. In Andover, multiple trees were downed. In Georgetown, two trees and wires were downed on Route 133. Trees and power lines were downed on Baldpate Road in Boxford. One tree was downed on Route 110 in Merrimac and another on School Street.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	North Andover	$15,000	Trees and wires on Ashland Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
September 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	North Andover	$10,000	Trees and large branches on Osgood Street, Harkaway Street, and Academy Lane were downed by thunderstorm winds.
September 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	North Andover	$10,000	Trees and wires on Beach Avenue were downed onto a house by thunderstorm winds.
September 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	North Andover	$10,000	Trees and wires on Steven and Greene Streets were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Andover	$5,000	no account filed
June 2005	Lightning	Andover	$5,000	no account filed
June 2004	Lightning	Andover	$5,000	no account filed
March 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	West Andover	$1,500	In Andover, trees were down at Shawsheen Square and also on High Street.
June 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	West Andover	$500	In Andover, a tree was down on Cross Street.
August 2023	Flash Flood	Andover	-	In Andover, stores in Shawsheen Plaza flooded.
August 2023	Flash Flood	Andover	-	In Andover, a portion of Main St was flooded.
August 2023	Flood	North Andover	-	In North Andover, there were flooded vehicles stuck on Massachusetts Ave under the I-495 overpass. High St in Andover was under several feet of water.
August 2023	Flash Flood	North Andover	-	In North Andover, a senior housing center on Main St was underwater leading to the evacuation of 150 residents.
April 2019	Flood	West Andover	-	At 7:07 AM EDT Lowell Street (State Route 133) at Arthur Road was flooded and impassable.
September 2018	Flash Flood	West Andover	-	At 9:41 AM EST, Beacon Street in Andover was flooded in front of West Elementary School.
April 2017	Flood	West Andover	-	At 7:58 PM EST, Beacon Street in front of West Elementary School was flooded.
July 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Andover	-	Trees down on High Street and Lovejoy Road.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Andover	-	Trees were reported blown down, including a 40-foot tall oak tree.
August 2004	Hail	Andover	-	no account filed
March 2000	Heavy Rain	North Andover	-	no account filed
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Andover	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Essex County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Shawsheen Village	1.0 miles	38
West Andover	1.1 miles	38
Shawsheen Heights	1.7 miles	38
North Andover Center	2.2 miles	40
Marble Ridge Station	2.5 miles	40
Mount Vernon Park	2.5 miles	38
Ballardvale	2.6 miles	38
West Parish	2.7 miles	38

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Andover	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q4754591	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 612281. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.