At 8 Kimball Avenue is a house that once sat at Lords Square, owned by W. B. Richards. The 1911 Town Report lists him as an assessor. Harold Bowen wrote in “Tales of Olde Ipswich” that there was a store at this location as well, owned by the Richards family.
The Mrs. W. B. Richards house is circled in the 1910 Ipswich map.
The house appears in the 1910 Ipswich map, but not in the 1893 Birdeye map. In 1940 the home was moved over the High Street bridge to 8 Kimball Avenue where it still stands today, and Mutual built a new service station which now houses Tick’s Auto Service.
This photo was taken about 1940 just after Asa Lord’s store was demolished to make way for a service station, which is now the site of the Prime station. On the far left is Marcorelle’s Store still standing on Short Street, and just to the right is the location of the Richards house.
The Richards house being moved from Lord’s Square up High Street to Kimball Avenue in June, 1940. The movers are preparing to cross the High Street bridge. In the background on the left is the Merchant-Choate house, one of the oldest houses in Ipswich. Photo courtesy Ken Richards, from Bill Varrell’s book Ipswich