Something to Preserve
This important book described the process by which the town of Ipswich began to preserve at-risk historic homes after the town rejected efforts to set up a legal historic district.
211 Argilla Rd., the Mary Ann Archer Lord house (1902)
In 1902, Mary Ann Archer Lord of Boston purchased 20 Acres of Land on Argilla Road from the Smith family. No buildings are mentioned in the deed. In 1929, Sidney Lord and other parties sold to Benjamin Van Wick the property, including buildings, bordering on the lot of […]
Drunkards, liars, a hog, a dog, a witch, “disorderly persons” and the innkeeper
As the young boys who arrived with the first settlers of Ipswich approached adulthood, they developed a fondness for hard liquor and rowdiness, which frequently landed them in court.
A photographic and chronological history of the Ipswich Schools
In 1652, the Town of Ipswich voted “For the better aiding of the school and the affairs thereof,” building a grammar school and paying the schoolmaster. By the 19th Century there were 10 grammar schools spread throughout the town, and a high school.
Great Sorrows, the Deadly “Throat Distemper” of 1735-36
“What mourning Sighs, and loud Outcries comes from the Eastern Towns,
Of Children crying, and others dying,
which makes a doleful Sound.”
The Postman Only Rang Once…….
What was forwarded to me was a shocking eye-opener of national proportions, I promised to keep it under my hat, so consider yourselves among the very privileged few to have this access. Please don’t tell anyone…
Ipswich and the Salem witchcraft trials
During the Salem witch trials, Elizabeth Howe of Linebrook Road was tried and hanged. The Ipswich jail was filled with the accused, but the ministers of the town opposed the trials as a delusion. Residents blocked the bridge to prevent the accusing girls from being brought into Ipswich.
Rowdy Nights at Quartermaster Perkins’ Tavern
The Quartermaster’s house became the scene more than once of violent disorder. The company’s behavior was so scandalous that the whole lot were summoned to Ipswich Court on May 1, 1672.
Jeffreys’ Neck Road
This history of Jeffreys Neck is from the Agawam Manual and Directory by M.V.B. Perley, published in 1888. The business of fur-trading and fishing along the New England coast received a new impetus about the beginning of the seventeenth century. In 1604 Agawam was the center of Arcadia, […]
After electoral defeat, neither Adams President attended his successor’s inauguration
John Adams, our second President, and his eldest son John Quincy Adams, our sixth President, both quietly departed Washington on the eve of their opponent’s inauguration. Each did so in good conscience, leaving their successors, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson respectively, to enjoy two terms in office.
“Wording it over the sheep” and behaving badly
Samuel often had words with his neighbor John Lee Sr. over the handling of cattle and sheep, and in 1668 the two landed in court for disturbing the peace. Neither would not admit to any wrong. A witness testified that John’s son Joseph hit Samuel with a club as they “were wording it over the sheep”
Shays’ Rebellion, 1786
On the last Tuesday of August, 1786 some 1500 armed insurgents took possession of the Northampton Court House, initiating a brief war known as Shays’ Rebellion.
Resources for local Native American history and dialects
(The following information is provided by Mary Ellen Lepionka of Gloucester. Download the full PDF document to which this refers. Read: Who Were the Agawam Indians Really? Mary Ellen Lepionka’s Sources Sources for Algonquian place names include William Bright’s Native American Place Names of the United States (2004, […]
Two Taverns for Two Susannas
In the 1700s two of the finer inns in town were run by women, a mother and daughter both named Susanna. Although the two houses are both on corners of County Street, they were separated by the river.
Names of the Ipswich slaves
In 1641 the Massachusetts Bay Colony adopted a code of laws that made slavery legal. In 1755, the slaves in this town above the age of sixteen numbered sixty-two, but within ten years, public opinion began turn against slavery. In 1780, the present Constitution of Massachusetts was adopted, its first article asserting that all men are born free and equal.
Historic Ipswich in black and white
These monochrome photos of historic houses in Ipswich were taken in the 1980’s for MACRIS, the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. Click on any photo to view the listing for the house.
Ipswich at MACRIS
MACRIS is the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. The following houses are from a search of Ipswich structures in the collected files. Go to MACRIS to view the complete list of structures. Inv. Property Name Street Year IPS.A Ipswich Village IPS.B Damon Farm II […]
35 Central St., the Caldwell-Copp house
The Oak Hill apartments building at 35 Central Street was constructed in 1880 by Joel Caldwell. In 1891, Margaret and Lydia Caldwell sold the property to Carlton and Harriett Copp.
Ancient Prejudice against “the Indians” Persists in Essex County Today
Beneath broad acceptance of Indian rights and benign admiration for aspects of Native culture lies inherited hostility toward Native people. Unrecognized, it has gone unchallenged, but locally I have found it evident in these six ways.
Conspiracy theories in Colonial America
Cotton Mather wrote that “New Englanders are a People of God” who had conquered “the Devil’s Territories.” Paranoia persists in today’s political political battle between truth and deceit.
Early American Gardens
Isadore Smith (1902-1985) lived on Argilla Road in Ipswich and was the author of 3 volumes about 17th-19th Century gardens, writing under the pseudonym Ann Leighton. As a member of the Ipswich Garden Club, she created a traditional seventeenth century rose garden at the Whipple House.
“My grandfather belonged to Thomas Jefferson.”
A story first recorded in the 1940’s about slavery, as told by people who were slaves.
Lucy Kimball
Born in the Hart House, Miss Kimball was a graduate of the Manning High School, class of 1894. She died in 1980 at the age of 105, after teaching first grade for 45 years.
Chebacco Old Graveyard interment locations
These inscriptions are based on a cemetery survey taken in 1991, and transcribed to a computer file by the Essex Shipbuilding Museum, edited and annotated by Kurt Wilhelm. The letters and numbers in the identification of each gravestone indicates the location of the gravestone at the time of the […]
The Epes’ farm at Wigwam Hill
Symonds Epes bought a large tract in 1726 and built a substantial farm and orchards at Wigwam Hill, named for a group of destitute Indians who briefly camped there. The protecting pitch pines were later cut for lumber, and the farm became a large dune.
Crane Beach, Easter weekend 2020
The Crane Estate has been closed by the Trustees because of Covid-19, but Crane Beach, Steep Hill Beach and Castle Neck are open to residents of Ipswich with a Crane Beach sticker Friday – Sunday.
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.
39 Mineral Street (c 1920)
The building at this location in the 1910 Ipswich map was a two story barn or storage building belonging to the Smith family. It is unclear if this is the same structure converted into a residence.
The early history of Topsfield
National Register of Historic Places Documentation Prepared by Gretchen G. Schuler & Anne M. Forbes, Preservation Consultants, April 2005 I. Contact Period and Early Settlement (ca. 1500-1670) The native inhabitants of Topsfield at the time of the first European contact were members of the Pawtucket group who occupied […]
Ipswich listings in the National Register of Historic Places
Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register of Historic Places supports public and private efforts to identify, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
Market Street
Photos of Market St. from the present day back to the early days of photography.
48 High Street, Samuel W. Baker house (1852)
The straw-roofed Baker house that stood on the corner of High St. and Mineral St was razed in 1849 and replaced with the current structure.
The Newburyport Tea Party, March 1775
When Parliament laid a tax on tea, the British locked all the tea that had arrived in Newburyport into the powder house. Eleazer Johnson led a group of men who shattered the door and burned the tea in Market Square.
The Choate Bridge
The American Society of Civil Engineers cites the Choate Bridge in Ipswich as the oldest documented two-span masonry arch bridge in the U.S., and the oldest extant bridge in Massachusetts.
Recollections of A Boy’s Life In The Village
This story was written by Amos E. Jewett in 1945. At the time, he was 83 years old. having been born in Ipswich Village, near Rowley, on June 16, 1862.
When Herring Were Caught by Torchlight
In the late 19th Century, most of the men around the river would look forward to “herringing” when fall arrived. The foot of Summer Street was the best landing. One year so many herring were caught, they were dumped in the Parker River, and Herring did not return for many years.
Jane Hooper, the fortune-teller
Jane Hooper was in 1760 a Newburyport “school dame” but after she lost that job she found fame as a fortune-teller. When the Madame made her yearly visit to Ipswich, the young and the old called on her to learn of their fates.
Wreck of the Ada K. Damon
Christmas, 1909 witnessed the heaviest storm in many years. The ship was wrecked during the captain’s first trip for a load of sand from the plentiful supply on Plum Island.
207 Argilla Rd., the Sidney Shurcliff house (1935)
Sidney Shurcliff, a Boston landscape architect hired architect George W. W. Brewster to convert the Mary Lord house into his summer residence.
County Street, Sawmill Point, and bare hills
The town voted in 1861 to build County Street and its stone arch bridge, connecting Cross and Mill Streets. A Woolen mill, saw mill, blacksmith shop and veneer mill operated near the bridge.
Historic Ipswich 