by Charlotte Lindgren One hundred years ago, Lakemans Lane was a narrow dirt road lined by stone walls. About a mile beyond Parting Paths, then called Whittier's Corner, (for the now demolished homestead of the large Whittier family) the lane connected County and Essex Roads. It was bisected by Fellows Road which led to Candlewood. … Continue reading Lakemans Lane and Fellows Road
Maple Ave.
Maple Street first appears in the 1884 Ipswich map, without houses. A white arrow in the photo above points to the house still standing at 6 Maple Street, with a horse in front. The photo was taken from Town Hill by Edward Darling, around 1890. In the foreground are houses still standing on High Street. On the … Continue reading Maple Ave.
Old Roads and Bridges of Newbury and Newburyport
Text by James B. Stone, from Images from the Past , published by the Newbury 350th anniversary Committee. Featured image: Bridge over the Parker River in Newbury, on today's Rt. 1A, 1898. When the first settlers arrived in Newbury in May of 1635, there were only Indian trails which wound through the forests. Besides food and shelter, … Continue reading Old Roads and Bridges of Newbury and Newburyport
Market Square
Featured image: Ipswich woodcut attributed to S. E. Brown, 1838, or John Warner Barber, 1839
Market Street
Photos of Market St. from the present day back to the early days of photography.
County Street
County Street is in the Ipswich Architectural Preservation District and has some of the oldest houses in town. The section between East and Summer Streets was originally called Cross St, and the section between the County Street bridge and Poplar Street was known as Mill St. The roads were connected when the County Street Bridge was … Continue reading County Street
Linebrook Parish
Featured image: Linebrook Church, photo by George Dexter, circa 1900. Linebrook Road has been said to follow an old Native American trail that connected Agawam (Ipswich) with Lake Cochichewick in North Andover. The area began to be populated by settlers with the founding of Ipswich, primarily as agricultural land, and was known as Ipswich Farms … Continue reading Linebrook Parish
Washington and Liberty Streets
Gravel Street and the gravel pits are shown in the 1832 Philander map of Ipswich. One of the older established ways in town, Washington Street may have started as a footpath for Native Americans long before John Winthrop and the first settlers arrived. Today's Washington Street was called once called Bridge Street, and for two decades was known as Gravel … Continue reading Washington and Liberty Streets
Argilla Road
The South Green was long known as School House Green. From there, historic Argilla Road crosses pastures and deep woods, then opens up to a scenic vista of the Great Salt Marsh and the ocean on its way from South Green to Crane Beach.
East Street
The abrupt change in the name of High Street to East Street at the intersection with North Street is odd unless one knows a bit of history. When Ipswich was laid out in the 1600's, town center was Meetinghouse Green. A road headed south and crossed the river -- it was named South Main Street. It … Continue reading East Street
Summer Street
Summer Street may be the oldest public way in Ipswich, and in the earliest days of the settlement was called Stony Street, or simply "The Way to the River. " Thomas Franklin Waters wrote that for two centuries it was Annable's Lane, named after settler John Annable. In the Colonial years, streets tended to be named for topographical … Continue reading Summer Street
Roads to Paradise
Paradise Road follows a shallow peninsula bordered by Muddy Brook and the Egypt River. In 1807, the ancient path was laid out by the Town as a road from Pingrey’s Plain near the Clam Box, which served as the hanging grounds, to the Muddy River Bridge and the Egypt River. Thomas Franklin Waters wrote: “The early farm of Mr. Charles Day … Continue reading Roads to Paradise
The Ipswich Town Farm, 1817-1928
Ipswich established its first poorhouse in 1717, and until then the poor and incapacitated were simply let out to the lowest bidder. There was a growing movement in Massachusetts during the early 19th century for establishing rural working town farms for the poor. Caring for the poor in Ipswich became such an issue that the affluent remote … Continue reading The Ipswich Town Farm, 1817-1928
Ipswich Village (Upper High St.)
Featured image: "Ipswich Village" in the 1832 Philander map of the town of Ipswich. The following narrative includes excerpts from Ipswich Village and the Old Rowley Road. by Thomas Franklin Waters in 1915. "At the very beginning of the Town, High Street was the road to Newbury or 'the pathway leading toward the River of Merrimac.' No … Continue reading Ipswich Village (Upper High St.)
Let’s Go Walking……. After Midnight……
A story by Gavin "Noir" Keenan: Up for a walk tonight? How about joining me on a late-night beat shift in the early 1980’s? The downtown was still thriving then; a square filled with businesses, bars and people on every corner at all hours of day and night. Beat cops were kept busy, especially on … Continue reading Let’s Go Walking……. After Midnight……
Hammatt Street and Brown Square
Until the second half of the 19th Century, much of the area bounded by Central Street, Washington Street, Mineral Street and Market Street was a wetland with an open sewer known as Farley's Brook running through it. Brown Square developed as an industrial area beginning around 1885. The railroad came to Ipswich in 1839, changing the town forever. Stagecoaches … Continue reading Hammatt Street and Brown Square
Candlewood Road
"Why and when the name was given is largely a matter of conjecture. Pastor Higginson of Salem wrote to friends in England of the primitive way in which the earliest settlers often lighted their houses by burning thin strips of the pitch pine trees. The suggestion is natural that this fine farming country was originally … Continue reading Candlewood Road
The ancient names of Ipswich streets and roads
During the 19th Century, there was a movement to change the ancient names of American streets to something more dignified. Many Ipswich Streets lost their original names, but Turkey Shore and Labor in Vain gained them back.
South Main Street
In March 1692 several Ipswich persons petitioned “to have liberty granted them to build shops upon ye bank by ye river side,” at what is now South Main Street. The Selectmen laid out this stretch of land in twenty-three small lots and granted them "to as many individuals with the conditions that they not encumber … Continue reading South Main Street
Lords Square
Lord's Square was known as Brewer's Corner in early Ipswich. John Brewer was a town clerk and being on what was then the outskirts of town owned a large lot, which he divided into sections and sold. Brewer's First Period home at 82 High Street was built in 1700 and still stands just north of … Continue reading Lords Square
