Andover

Andover is a commuter rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Haverhill Line, located near the town center of Andover, Massachusetts. The station has one platform with a mini-high platform for handicapped accessibility serving one track, while the second track lacks a platform. The previous station building, used from 1907 to 1959, is still extant; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as Third Railroad Station.HistoryThe Andover and Wilmington Railroad opened between its namesake cities in August 1836 as a branch line off the new Boston and Lowell Railroad (B&L). A small wooden Greek revival station was built near the center of Andover. The line was soon extended north, and in 1842 in merged into the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M). After building its own route to Boston in 1845, the B&M looked to expand its passenger base to compete with the B&L. In 1848, the B&M relocated its main line from Ballardvale to North Andover to the west in order to serve the new mill town of Lawrence.The line was moved several blocks west in Andover, away from the busy intersections of the town square. A small house was converted into a temporary station, which was soon replaced by a larger L-shaped station with a large train shed. A brick freight house was built sometime between then and 1875.