Photographic Trip to the Hersey Farms Historic District of Andover, New Hampshire

The Hersey Farm Historic District represents two active farmsteads with outbuildings and landscapes that have changed little since the early 20th century. — In Andover, the Hersey Farm Historic District represents two active farmsteads with outbuildings and landscapes that have changed little since the early 20th century. Much of the land surrounding these farms has recently been protected with a conservation easement.

The Hersey Farms Historic District of Andover, New Hampshire, includes two farmsteads belonging to members of the Hersey family, located on the Franklin Highway (New Hampshire Route 11) in eastern Andover. The older of the two farms, the Guy Hersey Farm, was established c. 1850 by Hiram Fellows, and has been in the Hersey family since 1904. The adjacent James Hersey Farm was established in 1833 by Alfred Weare, and was acquired by Guy Hersey’s son James in 1945. The two farms encompass 325 acres (132 ha), and were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

I found a variety of interesting compositions of the classic old weathered buildings including the outbuildings, barns, attached farm house. All in all it is an amazing complex of preserved buildings that make up this once active farm. In the back fields, cattle or beef cows still graze the fields from the neighboring farm.

The Guy Hersey Farm, 1088 Franklin Highway, includes 57 acres (23 ha) of land, a c. 1830 farmhouse, and a number of barns and other outbuildings. Although the house predates the establishment of the farm by Hiram Fellows, physical and documentary evidence suggest it was moved to this site from another location. It began as a 1.5 story wood frame house with a side-gable roof. In the 1850s it was enlarged by raising the roof and adding a south wing. A barn dating to c. 1865-80 is connected to the house by a shed extension, and a second barn (c. 1917) is attached to the first. A third barn, dating to c. 1920 and moved to the site by Guy Hersey from another farm, forms an enclosed barnyard with the other two. The most interesting outbuilding is a c. 1890 structure that was initially used as a piggery, but was converted by Hersey into a smithy. Hersey’s property also includes the foundation remnants of an old schoolhouse.

The farm that was established by Hiram Fellows was probably operated by his father Nathan on a subsistence basis. After several changes of ownership it was acquired by Hersey, who first had a dairy operation. When this became less economically viable, he used the farm to raise cattle, an operation that continues today