The Lord-Ellsworth farm

The Ipswich Public Safety Facility Committee has reached an agreement with the Boston Catholic diocese to purchase four to five acres on church-owned land at the intersection of Pine Swamp and Linebrook Roads for a new public safety building. A portion of the land is currently used as a community garden. Approved at town meeting in May, 2020, the Town paid the Catholic Church $630,000 for the land, which would house a new combined police and fire station.

The intersection of Linebrook and Pineswamp Roads — Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church sits at the former site of the old Lord-Ellsworth farm house. The field on the left has been used as a community garden and will be the site of the new Ipswich public safety building.

In 1963 the Diocese purchased 5 acres on the southwest side of the intersection where they constructed Our Lady of Hope Church, along with the 11.9 acres on the southeast side, where a community garden was until recently located. The lot has never been developed and appears to have been used as a hayfield by the Lord and Ellsworth owners of the old farm.

In the 19th and 20th Century the intersection was sometimes referred to as “Lord’s Corner.” The last private owners of the land were William F. “Willie” Ellsworth and Hannah Ellsworth, who inherited the Lord farm, although it is unclear if they lived on the property. Mr. Ellsworth, also a farmer, was a descendant of Wilbur Fiske Ellsworth who was born in Ipswich March 30, 1843, and served for many years with the Ipswich fire department. He was the fourth son of Benjamin N. Ellsworth, the esteemed Ipswich lightkeeper, and was the brother of Civil War hero Thomas Ellsworth.

1832 map of Ipswich MA, showing Ebenezer Lord's farm

Map of Pineswamp and Linebrook Rd., Ipswich, in 1910

pineswamp_lord — Elizabeth Lord Ellsworth

Wilbur Fiske Ellsworth married Elizabeth Lord, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ebenezer Lord, and brother of Thomas R. Lord. They inherited the Ebenezer Lord Farm at the intersection of Pineswamp and Linebrook Roads in Ipswich, now the location of the Catholic Church. (*Thanks to Laurie Short Jarvis for this information about her great-grandparents.)

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