A farm town on the old Hartford road that began as a parish taxing every acre to build its church, quartered Rochambeau's officers at White's Tavern, and shipped its creamery butter to the cities.

Tolland County · Record checked October 8, 2026

3,151Population2020 census1
1848Became a townfrom Hebron and Coventry1
1749Church gatheredits first minister stayed 42 years2
67Creamery farmersdairy farmers who owned shares3
3National Registerplaces, all still standing4

Andover on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Andover, Connecticut in 2026, with Andover Center, White's Tavern, Hutchinson Road and 25 numbered landmarks

2026

Andover today

By KNOWOL

Shaded hills, every street from Hutchinson Road to Lakeside Drive, the houses of Andover Center, and a guide of 25 numbered landmarks with the three National Register sites marked.3

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Andover

Twelve pence an acre

Andover began as a parish, and its families paid for their church themselves. The colony incorporated the society in May 1747, and the church was organized on February 14, 1749. That same year the Assembly let the parish tax every acre inside it twelve pence a year for four years, to support a minister and build a meeting-house. Ebenezer Leach collected on the east side of the Hartford road and Denison Kingsbury on the west, and a committee from the Assembly came out to choose where the meeting-house would stand. The first minister, Samuel Lockwood, stayed 42 years. In 1833 the parish dedicated the church that still stands on Route 6, and in 1849 the Rev. William B. Sprague, an Andover native, preached its hundredth anniversary sermon.2567893

Cream routes, paper and whaling oak

Andover's farms and streams kept a run of small businesses going after 1850. About 1855 Bissell Post bought a farm and mill here, and the oak he sawed went largely to the New Bedford whalers, until the woods nearby were nearly all cut in the 1870s. The papermaker Simeon Wetherell worked in Andover's paper mills in 1859, and in 1889 Frederick Case of Manchester built a new paper mill in town. The Andover Creamery Association formed in 1886, and from October 10, 1887, it gathered cream on three routes reaching into every neighboring town. State senator William B. Sprague, owner of Maple Grove Farm, ran the creamery as its superintendent and treasurer. In 1908 Bingham's Mill was still grinding grain to order.101112131415

French officers on Hutchinson Road

Hutchinson Road was laid out in the early 1700s as part of the main road from Hartford toward Lebanon and Norwich. In 1773 Daniel White built a tavern beside it, and in 1781 the French army under Rochambeau camped just to its north on the march south. Officers stayed at the tavern, among them the Marquis de Chastellux, and French officers were quartered there again on the march home in 1782. Andover men did their part too. In 1776 Stephen Bingham, who had come to visit his uncle Benjamin Phelps and stayed on a farm the uncle gave him, was commissioned in the 12th militia regiment. Daniel Burnap, too young to enlist, went house to house gathering materials for gunpowder.16171819

Through the years

25 moments from 1740 to today.

  1. 1740The Georgian Phelps-Bingham House is built in what will become Andover Center.20
  2. 1747The colony incorporates the parish of Andover in May.2
  3. 1749The church is organized on February 14, with Samuel Lockwood as its first minister.2
  4. 1749The parish taxes every acre twelve pence a year for four years to pay a minister and build a meeting-house.5
  5. 1756The parish asks to become a separate town, and the answer is no.3
  6. 1773Daniel White builds his tavern beside the Hartford road.17
  7. 1776Stephen Bingham of Andover is commissioned in the 12th militia regiment.18
  8. 1781Rochambeau's army camps just north of White's Tavern, and French officers stay inside.17
  9. 1790The corner of Lebanon inside the Andover parish is annexed to Hebron.21
  10. 1791Samuel Lockwood's ministry ends after 42 years.2
  11. 1802The town of Hebron's first post office opens in the Andover part of town, with Simon House as postmaster.22
  12. 1831The Baptist church in Andover is built.7
  13. 1833The present Congregational church is dedicated on October 28.7
  14. 1848Andover is incorporated as a town on May 18, from Hebron and Coventry.1
  15. 1849The Rev. William B. Sprague marks the church's hundredth year with a discourse on February 25.8
  16. 1851Andover gets its own probate district on June 27.23
  17. 1855About this year Bissell Post buys a mill in Andover and saws oak for the New Bedford whalers.10
  18. 1859The papermaker Simeon Wetherell works for a few months in Andover's paper mills.12
  19. 1886The Andover Creamery Association is formed.13
  20. 1887On October 10 the creamery begins gathering cream on three routes into every neighboring town.13
  21. 1888The Andover Library is founded with gifts from Thomas E. Porter, Henry C. Robinson and others, and a grange is organized.13
  22. 1889Frederick Case of Manchester builds a paper mill in Andover.13
  23. 1893Andover's butter wins a bronze medal at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago.3
  24. 1963Town government moves out of the old town hall into a new building on School Street.3
  25. 2021The Agent Orange Monument is unveiled at Andover Veterans Monument Park on June 5.1

Places to see

The numbers match the landmark guide printed on the 2026 map.

  • 2White's TavernHutchinson Road. Rochambeau's officers stayed here.
  • 3Andover Town HallSchool Street. The working town hall since 1963.
  • 4Andover Public LibraryRoute 6. Library association organized in 1885.Visit their website
  • 5Nathan Hale State ForestNortheast. State forest reaching into town.
  • 10Andover Center Historic DistrictAndover Center. The old village, on the National Register.
  • 13March Route Rochambeau's Army-Hutchinson RoadNorthwest. The old Hartford to Windham road.
  • 20Museum of Andover HistoryMonument Lane. The first town hall, built 1893.Visit their website
  • 22Andover Congregational ChurchRoute 6. Built in 1833.
  • 23Andover Veterans Monument ParkMonument Lane. Beside the old town hall.
  • 25Bishop Swamp Wildlife Management AreaSouthwest. Swamp and woods in the southwest.

On the National Register

All 3 places in Andover on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.4

  • Andover Center Historic District

    Listed 2003 · Roughly along Hebron Road, Boston Hill Road and U.S. Route 6

    The old village at the heart of town, with the first cemetery of 1750, the Georgian Phelps-Bingham House of 1740 and the Greek Revival church of 1833. The Hartford to Norwich turnpike once ran along Center Street and Hebron Road.20

  • White's Tavern

    Built 1773 · Listed 1991 · 131 U.S. Route 6

    Daniel White's tavern quartered French officers, among them the Marquis de Chastellux, when Rochambeau's army marched through in 1781. Upstairs, walls hung on strap hinges swing open to turn several rooms into a ballroom.17

  • March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Hutchinson Road

    Listed 2002 · Hutchinson Road from Hendee Road south to its end

    About 3,000 feet of the early 1700s road from Hartford toward Lebanon and Norwich, lined with stone walls, that Rochambeau's army used in 1781 and 1782. The army camped just north of Hendee Road on its 1782 march.16

In their words

“He fulfilled the work of the ministry with ability, zeal and faithfulness.”

Contributions to the ecclesiastical history of Connecticut, 1861, on Andover's first minister, Samuel Lockwood2

“He sawed oak timber, which was used largely by the New Bedford whalers.”

Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, 1923, on Bissell Post's Andover mill10

“Any movement looking to the benefit of his town would find in him a hearty friend.”

Commemorative biographical record of Tolland and Windham counties, 1903, on Elliot P. Skinner of the Andover Creamery24

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Andover, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  2. Contributions to the ecclesiastical history of Connecticut (1861), on the church in Andover, Internet Archive
  3. Map of Andover, Connecticut in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  4. National Register of Historic Places listings in Tolland County, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  5. The public records of the colony of Connecticut (1850), on the Andover parish tax of 1749, Internet Archive
  6. The public records of the colony of Connecticut (1850), on the Andover meeting-house committee, Internet Archive
  7. Hebron, Connecticut, bicentennial (1910), on Andover's churches, Internet Archive
  8. Reference list on Connecticut local history (1900), on Andover, Internet Archive
  9. Diary of Thomas Robbins, 1796-1854 (1886), on William B. Sprague of Andover, Internet Archive
  10. Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography (1923), on Bissell E. Post's mill, Internet Archive
  11. Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography (1923), on the Post family of Andover, Internet Archive
  12. Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut (1901), on Simeon F. Wetherell, Internet Archive
  13. Hebron, Connecticut, bicentennial (1910), on Andover's library, creamery and paper mill, Internet Archive
  14. Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut (1891), on William B. Sprague, Internet Archive
  15. Hebron, Connecticut, bicentennial (1910), on Andover's stores and mill, Internet Archive
  16. March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Hutchinson Road, Wikipedia
  17. White's Tavern, Wikipedia
  18. Genealogy of the Bingham family in the United States (1898), on Deacon Stephen Bingham, Internet Archive
  19. Commemorative biographical record of Tolland and Windham counties, Connecticut (1903), on the Burnap family, Internet Archive
  20. Andover Center Historic District, Wikipedia
  21. Hebron, Connecticut, bicentennial (1910), on the 1790 annexation, Internet Archive
  22. Hebron, Connecticut, bicentennial (1910), on the first post office, Internet Archive
  23. A digest of the early Connecticut probate records (1904), Internet Archive
  24. Commemorative biographical record of Tolland and Windham counties, Connecticut (1903), on Elliot P. Skinner, Internet Archive