“Ipswich Bluff” across from Great Neck on Plum Island was originally called Stage Island, due to its early use as a convenient location for the drying of fish. During the second half of the 19th Century, the hotel at Ipswich Bluff was a favorite destination of locals in the late 19th Century, taking the steamer Carlotta from the Ipswich wharf with Capt. Nat Burnham.
Lithography by Edward Burrill, 1835-1913, courtesy of William Barton
19th Century photo of campers at Ipswich Bluffs, from the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach photography collection at the New York City Public Library Digital Collections.
Pier at Ipswich Bluffs (Stage Island)
Photo by George Dexter, labeled “Essex Bay from Ipswich Bluffs”
The Carlotta leaving Ipswich Town Wharf. Photo by George Dexter
Pier at the Bluffs. Photo by George Dexter
The Ipswich BluffsHotel
The Bluffs Hotel. Photo courtesy of Peter Sztramski
![ipswich-bluffs-guests[1]](https://ipswich.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/ipswich-bluffs-guests1.jpg)
A group of ladies enjoying the shade at Ipswich Bluffs Hotel
A 1903 meeting of the Dalton Club at Ipswich Bluff
Front of the Ipswich Bluff Hotel (photo courtesy of Randy Maggelet)
Plum Island the Way it Was - Published in 1993, this 100-page book is copied with permission from the estate of the late Nancy Weare. Read by scrolling this page, or click on any image to read as a slideshow.
The Northern End of Plum Island - Nancy Virginia Weare spent 33 years at her family’s summer camp at Plum Island. After the Parker River Wildlife Refuge was established, she moved to a home on Great Neck in Ipswich overlooking the island. In 1993, after Nancy retired, she wrote “Plum Island: The Way It Was.” 
The Early History of Plum Island - Nancy Virginia Weare spent 33 years at her family's summer camp at Plum Island. In 1993 she wrote "Plum Island: The Way It Was," which is reprinted on this site with permission.
300 years on Grape Island - Grape Island was once a small but thriving community, and briefly a popular summer resort. In 1941, 3000 acres of Plum Island including Grape Island were purchased by the U.S. government to establish the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.
Ipswich Bluffs - The hotel at Ipswich Bluff on the southern tip of Plum Island was a favorite destination of locals in the late 19th Century, who took the steamer Carlotta from the Ipswich wharf with Capt. Nat Burnham.
The Knobbs - The Knobbs is a small beach in a stretch of salt marsh on the west side of the Ipswich section of Plum Island. On the Atlantic side was the Kbobbs Beach Life-Saving Station, replaced in 1947 by a camp for children who had been victims of polio. Categories: Places
Historic Ipswich 
Hi,
My grandmother was hazel Fowler.
She was raised at The Bluffs on Plum Island. Her father ran/owned the resort.
We have multiple photos of The Bluffs from 1915 – 1935.
We have a watercolor which Hazel painted in about 1910 which may (probably) is of the port (about 12″ x 20″). We also have a watercolor of a schooner which seems to have a lighthouse in the background.
We have at least one diary which Hazel kept from about 1913. In the back, she kept a record of tips which she earned as a maid at the resort.
If you’d like any of the above, please let us know. (We are getting long in tooth and are clearing out clutter prior to moving.)
Thanks,
I have a nice framed original
I have 2 painting by Burrill. One of my family home in Byfield and one of the snuff mill behind my previous home in Byfield. Now live in Ipswich. Would love more info on print.
Any idea where “Ipswich Bluff” is?
I added an interactive map