Andover Historic Book: From Iron Forge To A 18Th Century Stone Mills And Mansions: Andover History And Archaeology Society

As far back as the early 1700s, the name Andover was used by the Penns, owners of a large tract here granted to them by the Proprietors, to refer to the whole general area. Over the years, various sites have borne the Andover name, including local iron mines, forges, furnaces, factories, and settlements with a connection with these early iron interests. Its property spread out over many miles. The iron for the operation was supplied from mines which were located about two miles north from here on the east side of Limecrest Ave. The next phase in the iron process occurred at Andover forge, which was located about five miles to the south, at what is now Waterloo Village in Byram Township.

Learn more history from excerpts below from this book. The story about Andover Furnace and Forge began producing the best metal in the world. Its product was so desirable that the newly formed American military wrested control from Loyalist owners in 1778. This frontier industrial outpost endured thirty-five years before labor costs, competition from cheap imports, careless consumption of woodlands, and difficulty in transporting its products finally extinguished its fires. Today, repurposed eighteenth-century stone mills and mansions at Andover and Waterloo testify to the combination of rich ore, abundant water power, and seemingly endless forests that long ago attracted teamsters, woodcutters, charcoal burners, miners, molders, and smelters to the Appalachian Highlands of New Jersey.