Andover
Welcome to Andover!
![Telstar Ground Station, Andover](https://umaine.edu/undiscoveredmaine/wp-content/uploads/sites/527/2021/01/andover1-180x157-1.jpg)
The town of Andover, named for Andover, Massachusetts, where some of its first settlers originated, was incorporated in 1804 and grew as an ideal location for agriculture, logging, and small-scale water-powered industry, and later as a tourist destination for access to the nearby Richardson Lakes. Andover is surrounded by large mountains and known for its “grand and beautiful scenery”.
Fun Facts
- Andover is the site of one of Maine’s five confirmed meteorite impacts. The surviving mass of the meteorite weighs more than 7 pounds and is now housed at the Smithsonian Institution.
- Andover was once home to the Telstar communications satellite ground station. This satellite relayed the first transatlantic live TV transmission in 1962, and was considered a success in the Space Race after the USSR’s Sputnik satellite launch in 1957.
- Andover was the birthplace of Henry Varnum Poor, the great financial analyst who lends his name to the Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency.
- Andover is the resting place of the notable Native American woman, Molly Ockett, who spent the latter years of her life in this area.