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The historic neighborhoods of Meeting House Green, High Street, the East End, and the South Green offer well-preserved streetscapes of 17th to 20th century homes. Walking tours of historic Ipswich are led by Gordon Harris.
IPSWICH INDEX
(Or view a list of historic houses in Ipswich without the photos. To update or add information, please contact Gordon Harris at gordonharris2@gmail.com)
before ordering plaques for historic houses
Verify the age and name of your house:
- Historic houses of Ipswich at HistoricIpswich site (This page) Contains the most recently updated research, 2021
- Partial List of Historic Houses compiled for the Ipswich Historical Commission, updated in 2021 from Sue Nelson’s 2006 list, including dates of construction, historic name, and information relevant to the Demolition Review Bylaw and the Architectural Preservation District.
- The Ipswich Patriot Properties site is the fallback when research has not been done. It is not reliable for date of construction but is the source of many photos on this site. Click on the Parcel ID to view a property. On the property page, the Salem Deeds book and page number are shown as the Legal Reference.” This is the deed for the current owner. Deeds generally list the name of the previous owner and their deed’s book and page. You can search deeds backwards this way on the Salem Deeds site.
Historical Commission sources of information
- Detailed house and lot research in “Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony” Vol. 1 by Thomas Franklin Waters. The book is available on Archive.org with an updated search window.
- The Ipswich inventory on the MACRIS site (This is the official inventory, but is now 40 years old and somewhat outdated.
- MACRIS (partial inventory) listed on this site (this is much faster than using the search feature at MACRIS)
- “Historic Ipswich in Black and White” photos and links from MACRIS, similar to the above.
- Salem Deeds Record Search: This is a very useful resource for viewing or researching lot deeds back to the 17th Century. Because the site uses ASPX, the first click on a Salem Deeds link takes you to their home page but it starts a session. Click on the deed link again, or use the Book and Page feature to search a deed. MAKE SURE TO CLICK ON IMAGE to see the results (do not hit return).
- Salem Deeds Index Search Use the Index Books to search by name and time period. NOTE: you must use the search button. Hitting return will take you back to the home page .
- Salem Deeds homeowners search.
- Order a plaque for your historic home
Research source: Historic maps
Thomas Franklin Waters researched the early lot assignments in the 1641 map of land grants (which combines Diagrams 1-5).
The 1832-1910 maps show the names of the owners. The later maps show the actual shape of the house.
- Combined map of 1641 land grants, from Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
- Diagram No. 1
- Diagram No. 2
- Diagram No. 3
- Diagram No. 4
- Diagram No. 5
- 1832 Philander town map at Digital Commonwealth (online, scroll in to the upper left for high resolution of the historic area of town )
- 1856 Essex County and town map (scroll in for high resolution )
- 1856 Ipswich village map (jpeg, full, poor resolution)
- 1872 Ipswich interactive map at Ward Maps
- 1884 Ipswich Center map (Ward Maps) Bird eye map very high resolution (online, scroll in for high resolution)
- 1910 Ipswich Village historic center map section 8 (online, scroll in for high resolution)
- 1910 Topsfield – Ipswich – Essex – Hamilton – Wenham 1910 index to maps sections
View houses by date of construction
- Houses built before 1725 (First Period)
- 17th Century Ipswich houses
- 18th Century Ipswich houses
- 19th Century Ipswich houses
- 20th Century Ipswich houses
Ipswich Historical Commission Resources
- Order a plaque for your historic home
- Architectural Styles
- The annual Mary Conley Award
- Historic Houses Partial List (PDF)
- Preservation Agreements
- First and Second Period Houses (PDF)
- MACRIS
- Demolition Delay Bylaw
- Architectural Preservation District
- Photos of First Period and covenanted houses by Johanne Cassia for the Ipswich Historical Commission.
View houses by historic districts and neighborhoods
- Architectural Preservation District
- Meetinghouse Green Historic District
- East End Historic District
- High St. Historic District
- South Green Historic District
- Ipswich Mills and Brown Mills Historic Districts
- Central – Washington Street Victorian Neighborhood
- Linebrook Parish
- Ipswich Village
- Candlewood
View Also:
- Registry of Historic Places listings
- Researching the age and history of your historic house
- The ancient houses of Essex County: Beverly, Danvers, Essex, Gloucester, Groveland, Hamilton, Ipswich, Marblehead, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Rowley, Salem, Topsfield, Wenham, West Newbury
- First Period houses of Essex County
- First, Second and Third Period houses of Ipswich
- First Period construction
- MACRIS inventory of Ipswich houses
- Permit Records – Ipswich building permit records and inspections from 2010 to present. username: ipswich password: 01938
Click on the names or images to read the histories of the houses listed.
- View this list without photos.
- Email Gordon Harris at historicipswich@gmail.com with your additions or corrections for this site.
- Houses names are the first owner or a person who lived in them.
- Street addresses are listed alphabetically by the first digit. (For example, 9 High Street follows 89 High Street).
Agawam Ave.


Argilla Road




























Brown Square



Brown Street





Candlewood Road







Central Street























County Road
























County Street
















Depot Square

East Street

































Elm Street




Essex Road




Fellows Road




Fox Creek Road

Green Street






Hammatt Street

Heartbreak Road


High Street











































































Highland Avenue



Hovey Street


Jeffreys Neck Road










Kimball Avenue

Labor in Vain Road





Lafayette Road

Lakeman’s Lane



Liberty Street














Linebrook Road




























Loney’s Lane

Lords Square



Manning Street

















Maple Avenue





Market Street








Meeting House Green






Mill Road




Mineral Street















Mitchell Road

Mount Pleasant Ave.



Newbury Road


Newmarch Street


Northgate Road

North Main Street






























Old England Road


Poplar Street





Scottons Lane

South Green






South Main Street











Spring Street





Summer Street


























Topsfield Road
