Shawsheen River/Vale/Ann Rawlins Greene
 Reservations
     Andover Village Improvement Society
 Pomps Pond/Foster's Pond
 Andover Conservation Commission
"Still in the waters of the dark Shawshine. Do the young
bathers splash and think they're clean?"
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Size: Shawsheen River Reservation: 30 acres;

Vale Reservation: 45 acres;

Ann RawlinsGreene Reservation: 26 acres;

Burns Reservation: 3 acres;

Conservation land:101 acres

Access: Central St.; Dale St.; Recreation Park off Abbot St.;

trail beyond Shawsheen Rubber Co. in Ballardvale;

trails from Woburn and Andover Sts.

Canoe launch sites at end of Dale St. and at Central St. Bridge.

Parking: Recreation Park; Abbot Bridge Dr.; end of Dale St.; near Ballardvale dam; small lot on Red Spring Rd.

Greene Reservation parking on Bannister Rd.

Permitted: Hiking, ski touring, canoeing. At Recreation Park also tennis,softball, picnicking, swimming and canoeing. Sand pit is open to mountain bikes.

History
  A few hundred years ago, much of this land belonged to the Ballard family and Pomps Pond was known as Ballard Pond.

  The Ballards and others used the power of the Shawsheen to run sawmills and textile mills.

  This area became known as Ballardvale and it remained a thriving industrial center through the end of the 19th century.

  The current name of Pomps Pond refers to Pompey Lovejoy, a freed slave who built a cabin near the pond on Abbot Rd., fished, and farmed nearby land.

  Pompey Lovejoy died in the 1820s, over a hundred years old.

  The land between Pomps Pond and Central St. was the Foster poultry farm; the farmhouse can be seen from Central St. and Abbot Bridge Rd.
 

  A 1915 map shows the Andover Canoe Clubhouse near the Abbot Bridge.

  In addition to renting canoes, people could also take a trip on the motor yacht "Wm. Ballard."

  The river was considerably higher then, and the Canoe Club had built a half mile long canal linking the river to Pomps Pond.
 

  With only a ten-inch draft, the motor launch could carry 30 passengers to the pond for picnic suppers.

 
  Several generations ago, Andover residents enjoyed swimming in the Shawsheen.

  The river and the swimming adventures of Phillips Academy boys were immortalized in "The Schoolboy," a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

  In the 1970s, Recreation Park was built on the site of an old Boy Scout camp and railroad embankment.

  Spar and Spindle Girl Scout Council now has a day camp on the north shore of the pond.
 

  The Andover Village Improvement Society began acquiring land along the Shawsheen in 1963 and continued adding to the property through the years.

Natural features

 The Shawsheen River rises gently from a Bedford meadow, eventually flowing into the Merrimack River.

  Its name comes from the Indian words for "Great Spring" and "Beauty's Pathway."

  Meandering northward through the middle of Andover, the Shawsheen River offers canoeists and walkers a chance to observe wildlife and water plants at close range.

  The river is shallow between Ballardvale dam and Abbot Bridge, but still canoeable in all except the driest times.

  Extensive cattail marshes make walking difficult along the east side of the river.

  However they provide excellent habitat for geese, ducks and occasional herons.

  Watch for signs of muskrat and painted turtles.

  Springtime brings warblers and other birds as well.

  The Girl Scout camp is home to a great horned owl.

  The AVIS reservations on the west side of the river offer hikers fields, woodlands, and excellent views of the river.

  Just west of these reservations, across Andover St., Ann Rawlins Greene Reservation features a high ridge that extends its length, a continuation of Indian Ridge (see Indian Ridge/Baker's Meadow), a glacial esker.

  It is forested with young oaks and other hardwoods.

  After the leaves have fallen the ridge offers views of the Shawsheen River.

  Tiny Burns Reservation off Clark Rd. contains Clark's Pond, a lovely spot waiting to be discovered.

Loop walk
  A 5 miles loop walk along both sides of the Shawsheen River is possible by crossing the river at Central
 St. and at the Ballardvale dam.

   Fencing around the Girl Scout camp prevents public access; groups wanting to do a full loop should ask
 permission of Spar and Spindle Girl Scout Council in Middleton.