Boston & Maine Railroad

Construction of a railroad to connect Andover to Wilmington began in 1835, funded by investors Hobart Clarke, Abraham Marland, Amos Abbot, John Smith and Amos Pettingill. The rail line, called the Andover and Wilmington Railroad, opened on August 8, 1836. The depot for the rail line was located on Essex Street (Andover Playhouse). This station was used until the city of Lawrence was established and the rail line extended into Lawrence. In the 19th century, independent lines were built that connected one town to another. Such construction allowed for travel through a series of towns, walking to another station, and boarding an additional train. In Wilmington, travelers boarded the Boston and Lowell Railroad.

In 1834, Haverhill requested and obtained authority to extend the line to Central Village in Haverhill. The line was extended through New Hampshire during the 1840s to the Maine border under the name of the Boston & Maine Railroad. After the line was connected to Boston in 1846, people used the railroad for day trips to and from Boston in the summer.

See

• "All Aboard for Andover History", Andover Townsman, April 28, 2005, page 36.
• Andover Townsman, July 11, 1902, page 6.
• The City the B&M Built, B&M Bulletin, Vol.XX1 No. 3 & 4.
• "Commencement of the B&M Railroad," Andover Townsman, July 17, 1914.
• "The Old Railroad," Andover Townsman, December 11, 1914 (includes the route of the railroad through Andover).
• "In 1835, first train to Andover cheered wildly," Andover Townsman, November 8, 2012, page 10.
• Andover a Century of Change: 1896 - 1996 by Eleanor Motley Richardson, page 203 (974.45 Ric).
• High Green and the Bark Peelers: Story of Engineman Henry A Beaulieu and his Boston and Maine Railroad, by Robert Miller Neal.
• History of Essex County, vol. 1, (Andover Room R 974.45 Vol. 1).
• Rail Lines of Southern New England by Ronald Karr. 1995 (Andover Room R 385 Kar).
• Papers, Pamphlets, and Reports Pertaining to the Boston and Maine, and Maine Central Railroads by George T. Clark, (Andover Room R 385 Cla).
• "Puny Andover Line First Link of B&M System", Boston Globe, November 25, 1931
• The Townswoman's Andover, by Bessie Goldsmith, pages 9 - 11 (974.45 Gol).
• Turnpikes of New England, by Frederick James Wood, Andover Room R 388.1 Woo.
• Railroads from Salem to Lawrence, Lowell and South Reading, 1852. Digitized map from the Massachusetts State House Library.
• Google Earth Movie of the Andover and Wilmington Railroad Route
• First report of the directors of the Andover and Wilmington Rail Road Corporation, with that of the engineer. Oct 21, 1834. contains a map on page 26 of this document.

--Tricia (talk) 10:34, 6 March 2023 (EST)
--Stephanie (talk) 10:42, 14 February 2023 (EST)
--Eleanor 16:31, May 15, 2006 (EDT)
--Leslie 10:14, June 4, 2012 (EDT)

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