A photographic history of the Ipswich Mills Dam

Old footbridge on the Ipswich River at the downtown dam.

Arthur Wesley Dow cyanotype (circa 1900) of the earlier footbridge at the dam. Until 350 years ago, the Ipswich River ran unencumbered from its origin 35 miles upstream, carving its way through a 148-square-mile watershed. Herring, shad, salmon and alewife swam upstream to spawn. Thomas Franklin Waters noted that, "Great shoals of alewives came up… Continue reading A photographic history of the Ipswich Mills Dam