North Andover was not always its own town. Settled in 1634 as the northern parish of Andover, it spent more than two centuries as farmland and mill villages tied to a larger community to the south, until residents split off and incorporated their own municipality on April 7, 1855. That late, deliberate separation is why North Andover’s map still reads the way it does today: a historic town common and colonial center on one side, and a string of 19th-century mill villages strung along the Shawsheen and Merrimack rivers on the other.
The Davis and Furber Machine Company, which built textile machinery along the Shawsheen, gave rise to the Machine Shop Village district — worker housing and mill buildings clustered around the factory in a pattern still visible in the neighborhood today. Western Electric later became the town’s dominant employer before restructuring into Lucent Technologies, and North Andover shifted from an industrial center into a bedroom community within commuting range of Boston and Lawrence. That industrial-to-residential arc, more than any single event, explains why security needs in North Andover now span an old colonial center, former mill neighborhoods, a private college campus, and a large modern warehouse operation — four very different kinds of property sitting inside one town line.
By Derek Kreymer, Operations Manager
Hub Security and Investigative Group provides security guard services in North Andover, MA — armed and unarmed guards, mobile patrol, and licensed private investigation services — for an Essex County town of 31,490 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate) covering 27.8 square miles along the Merrimack Valley. North Andover is home to Merrimack College, a large Amazon fulfillment center that opened in 2024 with more than 1,500 employees, and Barker’s Farm, which has operated continuously since 1643 and is considered the oldest continually operated business in Massachusetts.
Security Built Around North Andover’s Districts
The North Andover Center Historic District, built around the colonial-era town common, mixes municipal buildings, churches, and small professional offices — a low-crime but visible district where Hub provides corporate security for office tenants and event-related patrol during town gatherings.
The Machine Shop Village area, built up around the old Davis and Furber Machine Company site, contains a denser mix of multi-family housing and small commercial buildings than the rest of town — Hub covers this district with residential security patrol tailored to older, closely spaced properties.
Merrimack College’s campus and the surrounding institutional corridor call for coordinated access control and event security, which Hub provides through corporate security staffing for campus-adjacent buildings and functions.
The Amazon fulfillment center and the broader industrial corridor near Route 125 represent the newest layer of North Andover’s economy, and Hub covers ongoing site work and logistics-adjacent development there with construction site security.
What Local Crime Data Actually Shows
North Andover recorded a violent crime rate of 1.56 per 1,000 residents in 2024, according to FBI-based data compiled by NeighborhoodScout — roughly half the Massachusetts state average of 3.15 per 1,000. Property crime came in at 6.13 per 1,000 residents, also well under the state average of 11.12. NeighborhoodScout’s index still places North Andover as safer than only 50% of U.S. cities overall, and the same data recorded one homicide in town during 2024.
The lower violent and property crime numbers track with North Andover’s shift from an industrial town to a residential and institutional one, but a mid-range national ranking, a documented homicide, and a genuinely mixed property base — historic center, dense mill-era housing, a college campus, and a major distribution facility — are why Hub Security and Investigative Group treats North Andover as a town that needs district-specific coverage rather than one blanket patrol plan.
Coverage by District
| District | Key Local Features | Hub Security Focus |
|---|---|---|
| North Andover Center Historic District | Town common, colonial-era buildings, municipal offices | Corporate security, event patrol |
| Machine Shop Village | Former mill housing, dense residential streets | Residential security patrol |
| Merrimack College corridor | College campus and adjacent institutional buildings | Corporate and campus-adjacent security |
| Route 125 industrial corridor | Amazon fulfillment center, logistics and warehouse space | Construction site security, patrol |
What Hub Security Provides in North Andover
- Corporate security for offices in the town center and near Merrimack College
- Residential security patrol for Machine Shop Village and neighboring mill-era streets
- Construction site security for development near the Route 125 industrial corridor
- Mobile patrol covering multiple North Andover properties on a single route
- Retail security for shops along Main Street and Route 114
- Background check services for North Andover employers and landlords
- Corporate investigations for North Andover-based businesses
Serving North Andover and the Surrounding Area
North Andover sits in the Merrimack Valley, close to Lawrence, Haverhill, and Methuen, with easy access to Boston-area suburbs to the south. Hub Security and Investigative Group patrols this corridor as a connected territory, which means North Andover clients get the same response infrastructure as businesses in the neighboring cities.
Why North Andover Businesses and Residents Choose Hub
- Massachusetts-licensed for both security guard and private investigation services
- Fully insured, with officers who are background-checked and trained before assignment
- GPS patrol tracking and unannounced supervisor inspections on every route
- Local management that knows North Andover’s history and districts — not a national call center or app-based broker
- 24/7 emergency dispatch at (617) 857-1200
Frequently Asked Questions
Is North Andover, MA a safe town? North Andover’s violent and property crime rates in 2024 were both well below the Massachusetts state average, according to NeighborhoodScout, though the town’s overall crime index still ranks it as safer than only half of U.S. cities and it recorded one homicide that year.
What parts of North Andover does Hub Security cover? Hub covers the North Andover Center Historic District, the Machine Shop Village neighborhood, the Merrimack College corridor, and the Route 125 industrial and warehouse corridor, along with residential streets throughout town.
Does Hub Security work with institutions like colleges in North Andover? Yes. Hub provides corporate and campus-adjacent security staffing for institutional clients, including buildings and events near Merrimack College.
Is Hub Security licensed to operate in North Andover, MA? Yes. Hub Security and Investigative Group is licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for both security guard services and private investigation work statewide, including North Andover.
Call Hub Security & Investigative Group at (617) 857-1200 for a free consultation on security guard services in North Andover, MA, or request a quote online.