Historic Ipswich on the Massachusetts North Shore
Structural issues were recently discovered in the Hall-Haskell house, which serves as the Ipswich Visitor Center. The nearby Ipswich Museum at 54 S. Main St. graciously offered their Carriage House as an exciting temporary location just in time for our annual opening at 10 am on Saturday, May 27, 2023.
Ipswich Community Access Media ( ICAM) released a short video featuring Kerrie Bates, Susan Demarle, Judy Gardner and Gordon Harris talking about what they do as volunteers at the Ipswich Visitor Center.
The Town sends a big thank you to the volunteers who cleaned our Ipswich Visitor Center in preparation for the 2023 season! When guests pop by the Ipswich Visitor Center and ask what’s great about Ipswich, we can always include our Ipswich youth!
This well-preserved gambrel was constructed in the mid-18th Century by John Dennis, grandson of Thomas Dennis the joiner. The house was later owned by Captain Ignatius Dodge, and is commonly called the Dennis-Dodge house.
This house is traditionally said to be the 2-story timber-frame home of cordwainer Philip Call constructed in 1659. Architectural historian Abbott Lowell Cummings believed that the left front rooms are a house that was constructed in the early 18th Century and was moved to the present location.
The main part of this house probably dates to 1723 under the ownership of Major Ammi Ruhami Wise. The house was moved in 1836 from the head of the South Green. Its asymetrical facade and heavy timbers lend credence to the early date of construction, and the northwest ell may be older.
Shoreborne Wilson, a cooper, bought this lot in 1672 and built the northwest portion of the house between 1685 and 1692. Col. Samuel Appleton acquired the house in 1702 and built the southeast portion
This house was originally on Summer St. and was moved to this location in the 19th Century.
Abner Day bought the house from the heirs of John Patch in 1814, added the large ell in the rear for an inn and tavern, which under the ownership of Capt. Samuel Day was known later as the Franklin House.
Samuel Dutch, a mariner bought this lot in 1723 and within ten years had erected a two story house, which was raised to three stories in the early 19th Century, adopting the appearance of a house constructed during the Federal era.
This house is believed to have originally been a modest cape on High Street. Jabez Farley sold a 40' lot to Joseph and John Wise, “laborers” in 1799, and they moved the Rindge house to the present location.
This house is one of the best representatives of the Greek Revival period in Ipswich, with doric columns supporting the portico, the entrance opening to a central stairway with light provided by a transom window and sidelights. The wood siding is shaped to emulate stone, and massive corner boards further contribute to its Greek Revival appearance.
In 1733, John Stacey was allowed to build a small house beside the rocky ledge at the lower end of the North Green. In 1834 the house was moved to its present location on Market St.
The actual date of construction is 1678-80, based on examination of the oldest beams by the Oxford Tree Ring Laboratory. The house was probably constructed by Thomas Hart's son Samuel.
Construction of the oldest part of this house has been historically attributed to John Kendrick. It acquired its present form under the ownership of the Staniford family in the 18th Century.
The east side of the house at 27 High St. is a one-room over-one-room floor plan, and may have been constructed by Edward Brown, who was allocated the lot in 1639 and died in 1659.
The east side of this house was constructed in 1711 by Col. John Wainwright, and the west side was added at the end of the 18th Century, featuring fine Georgian paneling and Rumford fireplaces. The rear ell was constructed during that time frame, but has a massive fireplace, chimney and summer beam that may date to the late 17th Century.
In 1657/8 Roger Preston sold this lot with house on it to Reginald Foster, who arrived in Ipswich in 1638 with his wife, five sons and two daughter. The existing house was once attributed to Preston, but was more likely constructed by Reginald Foster's son Jacob around the time he inherited the property from his father, who lived "to a ripe old age."
This First Period house originally stood on South Main St. In the mid-17th Century the house was owned by Dr. John Calef, who served as our representative to the General assembly, and was one of only 17 members who voted to retract the Circular Letter opposing the Townshend Acts.
This lot was assigned to early Ipswich settler John Shatswell. The two halves of the house are separately owned, and the north side is the oldest.
Captain Nathaniel Treadwell (1700 – 1777) and his wife Hannah opened the inn in 1737. John Adams stayed here frequently before the Revolution, where he wrote several letters to his wife Abigail.
The oldest part of the house may have been constructed for Deacon John Staniford and his wife Margaret. In the 20th Century this was the home of writer John Updike.
In 1962 the John Appleton House was scheduled to be demolished as a site for a service station. The Ipswich Heritage Trust formed to acquire and preserve the house. Today it is known as the Appleton Professional Building.
This private residence was traditionally a two family house, Although constructed at the end of the First Period, the house has early Georgian interior architectual elements and shows no indication of having had a central chimney.
The Caldwell house is believed to have been built as it appears today, a two-over-two-room house with a central chimney, after John Caldwell’s widow Sarah conveyed the property to their son, Dillingham Caldwell, on January 19, 1709.
William Howard purchased this lot 1679, and the left side of this house was built the following year. Howard died in 1709 at age 75, his son inherited the property, and it was at this time that the right side was added.
Owned by the Trustees of Reservations, this house is a well-preserved example of a First Period, hall and parlor house with a saltbox lean-to.
In 1688, Deacon Thomas Knowlton deeded his house and a 2 acre lot to his nephew Nathaniel, who is believed to have constructed this house shortly thereafter.
A traditional hall and parlor First Period house, rooms inside the Thomas Lord house have large oak summer beams with wide chamfered edges, typical of houses constructed before 1680.
John Sparks was granted a license to open an inn and sell beer "at a penny a quart." The tavern became a popular stopping place on the Bay Road, where men of business would meet for food and drink. The Court met at this location, where it heard and dismissed charges of witchcraft.
The rear ell of this house is believed to date to about 1660. and was purchased by famous jointer Thomas Dennis. The 1685 deed for an abutting lot refers to the "new dwelling house" of Thomas Dennis.
Posts and beams display fine beading, and there is handsome woodwork throughout the interior, indicating construction in the 2nd quarter of the 18th Century.
This page features the oldest gravestones, including the mysterious E.L stone dated 1644, and the gravestones of the Hart family beginning in the 1670s. The page is a work in progress, and more gravestones will be added soon.
Francis Jordan arrived with the settlers of Ipswich in 1634 and died in 1678. His widow and daughter's family continued to live in the house. The "messuage or tenement that was formerly Francis Jordan's deceased" was sold to John Potter in 1708.
The house at 80 East St. was built by Jacob Perkins or his son Elisha between 1690 and 1720. The cellar joists are typical of a construction style found in the 17th Century.
The lot at the corner of Green & County Streets came into the possession of Andrew Burley before 1688. His son Andrew became a wealthy merchant and representative to the General Court, and updated the house with fine Georgian features. It has been in the possession of the present owner since 1984.
In 1719, Perkins established an inn in his home "at the sign of the blue anchor," The house is the birthplace of famous Ipswich artist Arthur Wesley Dow. This house has a preservation agreement with Historic New England.
Although Baker is said to have built the present house, the structure is typical of houses built before 1720, which suggests he may remodeled the home of the Rev. John Rogers.
The house at 88 County Road was built in 1727 by Captain Thomas Wade. His son, Nathaniel Wade, at drilled the Ipswich Minute Men on the South Green across from this house. Wade was given command at West Point by Gen. Washington when Benedict Arnold joined the enemy.
One of the oldest houses in Ipswich, 103 High St. has elements of a structure built by early settler William Merchant, who arrived in Ipswich in 1639. The house was replaced or greatly enlarged after Merchant died in 1668.
Ipswich Visitor Center 