Notable persons from Ipswich history
The Ipswich Town Historian has begun a list of notable people who lived in our community and requests your additional input. These individuals could have resided during any historic time period.
Lords Square
Lords Square is not a square at all, and no one knows if it’s Lords Square or Lord Square. The bewildering commercial intersection abuts the Old North Burying Ground and the largest collection of First Period houses in America.
The Industrial History of the Ipswich River
The Industrial History of the Ipswich River was produced for the Ipswich 375th Anniversary by John Stump, volunteer for the Ipswich Museum, and Alan Pearsall, who produced the Ipswich Mural with funding from EBSCO.
Let’s Go Walking……. After Midnight……
Up for a walk tonight? How about joining me on a late-night beat shift in the early 1980’s? When you’re from a place and stay put, you pay attention to things. It’s the stuff of life that let’s you know where you belong.
27 Market Street, the Ipswich Post Office (1939)
The Ipswich Post Office was built on Market St. in 1939 with U.S. Treasury funds.
25 County Street, the J. Caldwell house (c 1860)
The house at 25 County Street in Ipswich was built in approximately 1860 on a corner of the former Ipswich Jail grounds. The 1872 Ipswich map shows the owner as J. Caldwell. In 1910 the owner is N. S. Kimball.
A town of immigrants
Puritans founded Ipswich during the “Great Migration” of the early 17th Century. Many residents of the town descend from immigrants who arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to work in the mills.
Ipswich in the Civil War
By Harold Bowen: The monument was first erected by the town in 1871 as a memorial to those who died in the Civil War. It had an iron fence all around it and inside the enclosure was a stack of cannon balls in each corner where a flag was inserted.
Ipswich Old North Burying Ground Section E
The Old North Burying Ground in Ipswich, Massachusetts was established in 1634 upon the founding of the town of the town, and is one of the oldest cemeteries in North America. The Old North Burying Ground is located at the intersection of High Street and Rt 133/1A. View at Google maps. […]
Ipswich Old North Burying Ground Section G
The Old North Burying Ground in Ipswich, Massachusetts was established in 1634 upon the founding of the town of the town, and is one of the oldest cemeteries in North America. The Old North Burying Ground is located at the intersection of High Street and Rt 133/1A. View at Google maps. […]
Ipswich Old North Burying Ground Section A
The Old North Burying Ground in Ipswich, Massachusetts was established in 1634 upon the founding of the town of the town, and is one of the oldest cemeteries in North America. The Old North Burying Ground is located at the intersection of High Street and Rt 133/1A. View at Google maps. […]
Preservation Agreements
Since 1969 the Ipswich Historical Commission has been responsible for a voluntary program of binding Preservation Agreements between the Commission and over 40 homeowners to preserve the structure’s architecturally significant features.
The Revolutionary letters of Joseph and Sarah Hodgkins
Throughout the Revolutionary War, Joseph Hodgkins sent letters home from the battlefronts to his wife, Sarah, detailing the desperate troop conditions and longing for home. The physical letters are preserved and are offered here online, transcribed with grammatical corrections for readability
Ipswich Old North Burying Ground Section F
The Old North Burying Ground in Ipswich, Massachusetts was established in 1634 upon the founding of the town of the town, and is one of the oldest cemeteries in North America. The Old North Burying Ground is located at the intersection of High Street and Rt 133/1A. View at Google maps. […]
12 North Main Street, Treadwell’s Inn (1737)
In 1737, Captain Nathaniel Treadwell opened an inn in this building. John Adams visited Ipswich frequently during the 1770s in his capacity as a lawyer and always stayed at Captain Nathaniel Treadwell’s inn. It was once erroneously named the Christian Wainwright house, which no longer stands.
68 Jeffreys Neck Road, the Captain John Smith house (c 1740)
Richard Smith came from Shropham, Co Norfolk by 1641. His farm came into possession of Richard Smith. To his son, John, for £170, he conveyed an 18 acre pasture, bounded in part by the river, “with the new house and half the barn, standing at the south-east end of ye great field.”
Old North Burying Ground
Established in 1634, the Old North Burying Ground in Ipswich, Massachusetts is one of the oldest cemeteries in North America.
Patronage and Scandal at the Ipswich Customs House
In 1829, the position of Ipswich Customs Collector was granted to Timothy Souther, a man of prominence and one of the old line Democrats who held office there under President Andrew Jackson. Souther resigned in August, 1840 after being charged with graft.
19 Summer Street, the Solomon Lakeman house (before 1745)
This lot was owned or occupied by Solomon Lakeman in 1745, but could have been constructed earlier. The 1832 map shows the owner as “The widow Lakeman.”
Old North Burying Ground (index by map location)
The Old North Burying Ground in Ipswich, Massachusetts was established in 1634 upon the founding of the town of the town, and is one of the oldest cemeteries in North America. The Old North Burying Ground is located at the intersection of High Street and Rt 133/1A. View at Google maps. […]
Highland Cemetery
Highland Cemetery in Ipswich is accessed from Town Farm Rd. The following listings and images are from the interments listed are actually at the Old North Burying Ground below on High St.
Chronological history of the Old North Burying Ground
This document was prepared by Martha Lyon for the Ipswich Historical Commission as part of the Old North Burying Ground Preservation Plan. Download as PDF Beginnings – 1634–1798 The Old North Burying Ground dates to the early 1600s, and the founding of the Town of Ipswich. Puritans had come […]
15 South Main Street, the Caldwell Block (1870)
The Caldwell Block stands on the site of the former Massachusetts Woolen Manufactory, constructed by Dr. John Manning in 1794. The property was sold to Stephen Coburn in 1847 and housed the post office and other shops. The building was destroyed by fire, and in 1870 Col. Luther Caldwell erected the present building.
A Chronology of Ipswich history
Featured Articles Legends The 17th Century The 18th Century The 19th Century The 20th Century The 21st Century The following list of dates and events in Ipswich history is from the Genealogy of the Willcomb family of New England (1655-1902); “Over Three Hundred & Fifty Years of Ipswich History,” […]
Remembering Taffy Hill
Howard R.”Taffy Hill “was a familiar sight at his iconic store on Market Street, in operation since 1929 when it was opened by his father as Hill’s Men’s Store.
33 East St., the Old Store (1830)
The house at 33 East St. was built in approximately 1830 near the corner of East and County Streets for use as a store by James Quimby, and was moved to this location in 1850 by Joseph Wait.
Ipswich Old North Burying Ground Section D
The Old North Burying Ground in Ipswich, Massachusetts was established in 1634 upon the founding of the town of the town, and is one of the oldest cemeteries in North America. The Old North Burying Ground is located at the intersection of High Street and Rt 133/1A. View at Google maps. […]
25 Market Street, the Nathaniel R. Farley Shoe Factory (1830-56)
One of the oldest commercial buildings still standing on Market Street, it was originally the Nathaniel R. Farley shoe factory. The building was altered in 1856 to its current appearance. In the second half of the 20th Century the building housed Goodhue’s Hardware Store,
24 High Street, the J.W. Gould House (b 1850)
This house was built on a part of the original estate Nathaniel Lord estate. The earliest known owner is a Caldwell, but it was in the possession of the Gould family by 1872. The house was renovated extensively in 2014.
Ipswich Old South Cemetery
The Old South Cemetery has approximately 1000 interments, and was used from 1756 till 1939. It sits between the South Green and the Ipswich River and is an easy walk from downtown. This comprehensive list of interments was created by the WPA.
6 Jeffreys Neck Road, the Oliver L. Sanborn house (1855)
Deacon Francis Caldwell sold a lot measuring 61 ft. on the road and 290 ft. deep on Jeffreys Neck Road to Oliver L. Sanborn, October 25, 1854 who built this house in 1855. Sanborn’s wie Mary was the daughter of Francis Treadwell on East Stret.
24 Market Street, the Aaron Jewett house (c 1800)
Constructed around the beginning of the 19th Century, this small building has served as Tetrault Jewelry Store since 1941, one of the longest-lasting family businesses in Ipswich.
Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
The two volumes are the authoritative source for Ipswich history from its founding in 1633 up to the 20th Century.
40 High Street, the William Caldwell House (1733)
William Caldwell built this house after purchasing the lot in 1733, The house remained in the Caldwell family into the 20th Century. Key features of the house include a large kitchen fireplace and exceptional period trim.
11 County Street, the Bennett – Caldwell house (1725)
Joseph Bennett built this early Second Period house in 1725. In 1818 the house was sold to Capt. Sylvanus Caldwell, who engaged in maritime trade along the coast from Massachusetts to Maine for a half century.
18 Green Street, the Isaac Stanwood Jr. house (1812)
Captain Isaac Stanwood was born in Ipswich, May 2, 1755. On January 24, 1775, he was enrolled among the Ipswich minute-men, and marched as a private in Captain Nathaniel Wade’s company, in the alarm of April 19, 1775.
33 High Street, the John and Sarah Dillingham Caldwell house (1660/1709)
In 1654, Cornelius Waldo sold to John Caldwell for £26 the house and land he bought of Richard Betts. Caldwell removed the old house and built the present house with massive summer beams, a huge fireplace, a very substantial house of the 1660s.
42 High Street, the Abner Harris house (c 1800)
This house was built by Abner Harris in 1800. The small 1742 Ringe house that formerly stood on this lot is said to have been moved, and is probably the John Wise Saddle Shop on Mineral St.
30 High Street, the Joseph Bolles house (1722)
Joseph Bolles, a carpenter bought this lot from Joseph Fowler with an acre of land and a house on it in 1722, which is the assumed date of this structure. This house began as a central chimney house, one room deep. Rooms were later added to the rear, and the roof rebuilt to cover the doubled house. The original oak frame is now thoroughly concealed, and second and third period trim dominate the house.
High Street Walking Tour
High Street in Ipswich has the largest concentration of First Period houses in America, along with dozens of other homes from the Colonial era.
Historic Ipswich 