Andover Highlands

Features:

The Andover Highlands Reservation was named by AVIS warden Shawn Burke, inspired by his fondness for walking in the Scottish Highlands. Burke also named “Puck’s Burn,” the muddy, seasonal stream that winds through the property and is crossed by a curving boardwalk built by local Boy Scouts. Granite erratics scrubbed by glaciers lend texture to the land, along with towering pines and a scattering of yellow birches with their distinctive shaggy, horizontal strips of bark. Wildlife sightings often include deer, fishers, turkeys, foxes, rabbits, skunks, and a wide array of bird species.

History:

Town deeds suggest a building existed on the property as early as 1755. Early owner William Blunt was born in England of purportedly aristocratic Belgian descent and came to Andover via Barbados. He married Andover resident Elizabeth Ballard and received land from her father described later as a tract “lying along the hill-top between Rabbits Rock and the Flat Rock in the Hollow” and as “meadows which were scarce on the old granite hub.”

The Blunt family left a significant legacy in Andover. Working as farmers, hatters, and felt-makers, they also served with distinction in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Family lore describes them as “big handsome giants with mighty voices.” Descendant Capt. Jonathan Blunt of Portsmouth, New Hampshire is said to have navigated General Washington’s boat as he crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Day 1776. Enslaved servants, “George and Silas (called Blunt),” also served with commendable records in the Revolutionary War. A more dramatic episode is the 1769 trial of Elizabeth Blunt Eames who was accused but acquitted of murdering her daughter-in-law in Bradford. The notorious case, with future President John Adams serving as defense counsel, captured widespread attention at the time.

In 1896, the property, including the Blunt house and 16 acres, was purchased by Mrs. Mabel (Josselyn) Sellers, herself of Scottish descent. Mrs. Sellers, separated from her husband William T. Sellers, a prominent newspaper editor in Lawrence, worked as an ironer in a public laundry while raising a large and successful family. Her descendants owned the property until 2000, and subsequently Andover residents Jim and Helen Sellers donated ten acres to AVIS. The trail head was constructed upon the development of Sellers Farm Road and marks the entrance to this historically and ecologically rich reservation.