Parts of that building may have dated to 1699, but its historic significance arose from being where James Otis, Jr., died in 1783.
This month the Andover News website reported that the town had demolished the Osgood house as a safety hazard.
The owner of the building died last year. She had never lived there but used the property to store more than 100 tons of stuff she’d accumulated at other places and couldn’t bear to part with. By 2023 the house was flagged with a sign warning emergency personnel that it was too dangerous to enter.
Andover was able to preserve one artifact from the house: the granite back step where Otis was standing when lightning hit the building, traveled down a beam, and went through his body. It appears here in a photo by Brian C. Mooney.
According to the Andover News, “Before demolition, the stone was removed to a temporary location near the arch at West Parish Garden Cemetery, awaiting relocation to a permanent home in the cemetery.” (Otis’s body was interred in the Old Granary Burying Ground in Boston.)
For more on why James Otis went to Andover while dealing with mental illness, read Lucy Pollock’s article for Revolutionary Spaces. Otis first moved to the town in 1778 to be under the care of Dr. Daniel How, and How’s house still stands in the same neighborhood as the late Osgood house.
Thanks for keeping on top of this story, John. This is a sad loss. The latest that I had heard was a report from Andover Historic Preservation, dated October 5, 2025, which said, "It is the opinion of the Commission that the home could be repaired and restored if the right buyer came forward." I guess that statement made me feel too optimistic.
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