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 line opened on August 8, 1836 and was called the Andover and Wilmington 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 1840's 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

• Andover Townsman, July 11, 1902, page 6.
• "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. (Andover does not own a copy of this title. However, there are several available in the consortium.)
• 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).
• 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.

--Eleanor 16:31, May 15, 2006 (EDT)
--Leslie 10:14, June 4, 2012 (EDT)

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