It's pretty well known that America's first published female poet was none other than North Andover's own Anne Bradstreet. And this month marks the celebration of Bradstreet's 400th birthday! Bradstreet was born in england in 1612 and at age 18 moved to Andover (now North Andover), where she spent most of her life, raised eight children and blossomed as America's first female poet. On Sept. 23 at 12 p.m., there will be a walk from the Stevens-Coolidge Place to the Stevens Estate dedicated to Bradstreet. Then at 2 p.m. there will be a presentation at Andover's Memorial Hall Library, “Anne …

When the name Stevens is mentioned in North Andover, many think of the grand Stevens Estate. But that name also has ties to the battle for, and birth of, our nation. The diary of Private James Stevens from those early days of the Revolution can be found at the North Andover Historical Society and records his service in that struggle in his own words. Stevens was born 1751, a descendant of one of Andover's earliest families -- a family that owned several farms in the North Parish. James, who worked on one of those farms for his father, joined the local militia to stand against the British. In …

When people think of the Witch Trials of the late 17th Century, they immediately think of Salem. But as many in North Andover know, there were also witch hunts and witch trials in the Andover settlement now known as North Andover. In fact, the maority of the people accused of witchcraft during that period were from Andover Village, much of which makes up present-day North Andover. In May of 1692, after the witchcraft histeria had branched out of Salem into surrounding areas, people from Andover and Andover Village fell under suspicion and were accused of being witches. And often the accused, …

With all the commotion about our fluctuating real estate market in recent years – prices are rising, prices are skyrocketing, prices are dropping, going back up… no, wait, never mind, dropping again – perhaps North Andover residents can appreciate the original sale price of their town: six pounds and a goat. In the mid-16th century, a generation after the first Europeans settled in Massachusetts, Rev. John Woodbridge of Newbury was feeling bored and wanted a new project. It was a pattern with him. As a boy in England, he was a notorious nonconformist and dropped out of Oxford to study on his …