St. Francis Seminary

Dedicated in November of 1930, The St. Francis Seraphic Seminary, a Catholic school to train boys for the priesthood, was built at 459 River Road near the Tewksbury line. A 40,000 bulb Christmas light display made the seminary a holiday destination for Andover residents and winter night time roadtrippers from 1935 to 1964 when the Franciscan community responsible for the seminary announced that it was too costly to maintain. The seminary was closed in 1977. The building then became part of the Franciscan Retreat and Conference Center. The Seminary building was razed in October 2016 to make way for a privately developed 55+ residential retirement community "Riverside Woods." The Town agreement with the site developer called for preserving a section of land along the river as open space. Access to the AVIS and town-owned trail systems as well as parking for hikers was planned.

St Francis Seminary With Christmas Lights - A popular holiday sight form the mid-1930's to the mid-1960's Andover Townsman, December 25, 2014, page 14

See

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• "St. Francis Seminary Lights Drew Thousands of Onlookers," Andover Townsman, December 18, 2008.

• Elderly Housing Proposal Considered for River Road, Franciscan Center Land. Andover Townsman May 12, 2011

• 459 River Road, Andover Historic Preservation Profile.
• Iconic Seminary in Andover Town Down Newburyport News October 26, 2016
• 200 Unit Plan for River Road in Andover Eagle Tribune, May 31, 2015
• "Thousands travel many miles to view great monastery holiday illumination." "Daily Boston Globe" , January 1, 1938, p. 24
• "Franciscan Seminary in Andover to abandon lighting display," "Boston Globe," December 9, 1964 p. 27
• Choi, Kevi, footage of the demolition of Saint Francis Seminary, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2duvUvz6SEY&t=382s
• Choi, Kevin Time-lapse photography of St Francis Seminary, Youtube, pending building demolition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C3jPG4Q2pA
• Blouin, Brian Aerial footage of St. Francis Seminary, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThpN-GiLk4I

--Stephanie (talk) 12:03, 27 September 2023 (EDT)
--Stephanie (talk) 18:06, 15 December 2022 (EST)
--Stephanie (talk) 11:13, 6 July 2021 (EDT) --Eleanor 15:53, August 17, 2011 (EDT)
--Leslie 16:23, July 31, 2012 (EDT)
--Eleanor (talk) 15:33, 22 January 2016 (EST)

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