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On the Massachusetts North Shore

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Category: Nature

The Peat Meadows

January 16, 2023January 16, 2023 Gordon Harris4 Comments
Peat wagon

Deep in Willowdale State Forest is a bog which in the 1832 Ipswich map is the "Peat Meadows." "Turf" as it was also called, became a commonly-used fuel when local forests were depleted and until anthracite coal became widely available.

Posted in History, NatureTagged Environment, fuel, Irish, peat

The Ipswich Sparrow

January 17, 2022November 15, 2022 Gordon Harris1 Comment
Ipswich Sparrow

The Ipswich Sparrow, a subspecies of the Savannah Sparrow, was first identified on Crane Beach in 1868.

Posted in NatureTagged Ipswich sparrow

Gathering salt marsh hay

February 12, 2021March 24, 2023 Gordon Harris2 Comments

Salt marsh hay is still gathered on the North Shore today. The grass was stacked on staddles to raise it above the high tides, and was hauled away on sleds over the frozen marsh in mid-winter.

Posted in Nature, Places, VideoTagged hay, Newbury, Plum Island, salt hay, salt marsh

The Chasm

September 20, 2019March 30, 2023 Gordon Harris3 Comments
Chasm at the Old North Burying Ground

The 1893 Birdseye map shows a serious washout just to the east of the Old North Burying Ground, forming a deep gully. A late 19th Century photo taken by Arthur Wesley Dow shows rocks and soil pushed up against a barn and sheds that once stood below.

Posted in Nature, PlacesTagged Homan, Ipswich chasm, Old North Burying Ground

Ipswich Mills Dam feasibility study

April 1, 2019January 8, 2023 Gordon HarrisLeave a comment
Ipswich Mills Dam Removal Feasibility Study

In 2010, the Ipswich Board of Selectmen voted to begin exploring removal of the Ipswich Mills Dam. The feasibility study was completed in March, 2019 and will set the stage for the Town's decision regarding the dam.

Posted in Environment, NatureTagged dam, Environment, mills

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Ⓒ2023 Gordon Harris gordonharris2@gmail.com

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