This video was taken last summer during the Ipswich Mill Dam drawdown, which coincidentally occurred duirng the worst part of the summer drought. The video describes the investigation that was conducted at that time of the dam's structure, and a study of the feasibility of removing the dam. Field work is complete, and a public … Continue reading Ipswich Mills Dam video
The shipwrecks at Ipswich Bar
Featured image: Map from Plum Island: The Way It Was by Nancy V. Weare The Ipswich Bar has a long history of tragic shipwrecks. Its swift currents and shallow waters are especially dangerous during storms, and many ships have gone aground. In 1802 and again in 1852 the Merrimack Humane Society of Newburyport constructed shelters at Sandy … Continue reading The shipwrecks at Ipswich Bar
The Green Street dam
(*In March 1934, Congress passed the Civilian Conservation bill, creating the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC). It was through this program that the old jail on Green Street was demolished and the short-lived Green Street dam was built.) by Harold Bowen, Volume III Tales of Olde Ipswich, published in 1977 For years before the … Continue reading The Green Street dam
Deluge! An Eyewitness Account of the Mother’s Day Storm of 2006
The spring of 2006 brought a paucity of rain that resulted in very dry conditions throughout Eastern New England. I remember noting the dryness of the landscape while patrolling through April into early May. Places normally exhibiting pools of standing water; the low ground west of Route One, Town Farm Road, and the Greenbelt property … Continue reading Deluge! An Eyewitness Account of the Mother’s Day Storm of 2006
Rum runners
Ipswich folks have always had a taste for good rum. All we know of Benjamin Wheeler who lived at 67 Turkey Shore Road is that in 1750 was that he was fined for selling rum without a license. When Rev. David Kimball was hired as pastor in 1806 for the First Church, his payment included "Best West India … Continue reading Rum runners
The Ipswich River, 1860-1930
Follow the Ipswich River, starting at the Willowdale Dam and continuing past all four stone arch bridges in Ipswich, then along Water Street to the Town Wharf and out to sea. Many of these photos were digitally developed by the Town Historian from original glass negatives taken by three early Ipswich photographers: Arthur Wesley Dow, the famous Ipswich … Continue reading The Ipswich River, 1860-1930
The boy who fell beneath the ice, March 19, 1802
The Rev. Joseph Dana served the Second Congregational Church at the South Green from 1765 until his death in 1827 at age 85. His tombstone in the Old South Cemetery reads: "In memory of the Rev Joseph Dana D. D., for sixty two years, Minister of the South Church. His protracted life was eminently devoted to … Continue reading The boy who fell beneath the ice, March 19, 1802
William Jeffreys’ Neck
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, so-called in the French patent of November 8, 1603. For a … Continue reading William Jeffreys’ Neck
Awful Calamities: the Shipwrecks of December, 1839
Featured image: Ships off Liverpool in the Great Storm of 1839, painted by Samuel Walters. From: "Awful calamities: or, The shipwrecks of December 1839: "It has probably never fallen to the lot of the citizens of New England to witness or record so many terrible disasters by sea in the short period of fourteen days as have transpired … Continue reading Awful Calamities: the Shipwrecks of December, 1839
An autumn walk in the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
These photos are from one of my favorite hikes in Mass Audubon's Ipswich River Sanctuary at 87 Perkins Row in Topsfield. Twelve miles of trails weave through an amazing mix of forests, meadows and wetlands, with great views of the Ipswich River from the central drumlin and two eskers that were left by retreating glaciers only 15,000 years ago. View the location at Google … Continue reading An autumn walk in the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
