Destination Ipswich: the Crane Estate with ICAM

In this episode, we take a four-mile walk that starts at the Ipswich residents parking lot at Crane Beach. A trail from the beach takes us to the top of Steep Hill for a marvelous view of Plum Island and Ipswich Bay. A path through the woods continues to the Castle, and Gordon stops along the way to rotate the one-ton “pivot rock” on its axis. After a stroll through the formal gardens and the rose garden, we descend to Cedar Point trail, which follows Fox Creek to Steep Hill Beach. On our way back, we find little remaining evidence of the wreck of the Ada K. Damon, which grounded on Steep Hill Beach in 1909, and broke apart during a coastal storm in 2021. This beautiful walk at the Crane Estate is made possible by the Trustees of Reservations. The marvelous production work in this series is by Randyll Collum at ICAM.

Previous episodes

Destination Ipswich: The Dow & Bull Brook Conservtion Areas - In Episode 6 of Destination Ipswich, we take a walk in the Dow Brook Conservation Area, starting at the trailhead next to White Farms Ice Cream on upper High St. (Rt. 1A). The trail takes us to the Dow Book Reservoir, where we walk across the dam, and check out the water and electric generator station constructed in 1894. The next stop is the Ipswich Water Department, where superintendent Joe Ciccotelli explains how water from the the reservoirs is filtered and makes its way to our faucets. Continuing onto Bull Brook, we viewed the remains of the 300-year-old dam and mill built by Nejemiah Jewett. A short distance ahead is the reservoir's concrete spillway. A wooded trail follows the edge of the reservoir and takes us to the other trailhead at the Mile Lane playing fields.… Continue reading Destination Ipswich: The Dow & Bull Brook Conservtion Areas →

Destination Ipswich: the Crane Estate with ICAM - In this episode, we take a trail from Crane beach to the top of Steep Hill for a marvelous view of Plum Island and Ipswich Bay. A path through the woods takes us to the Castle, and we stroll through the formal gardens and the rose garden before descending to Cedar Point trail,where we enjoy the view of Fox Creek on our way to Steep Hill Beach. The beautiful walk at the Crane Estate is made possible by the Trustees of Reservations.… Continue reading Destination Ipswich: the Crane Estate with ICAM →

Destination Ipswich: Strawberry Hill and Greenwood Farm - Take a walk with us at Strawberry Hill, an Ipswich open space property with a meadow trail that takes you to Smith's Island, a small elevated area in the Great Marsh. Across Jeffreys Neck Road from Strawberry Hill is Greenwood Farm, a Trustees of Reservation Properties that features an early 18th Century house and the abutments of the old road that connected the farm to Newmarch St.… Continue reading Destination Ipswich: Strawberry Hill and Greenwood Farm →

Destination Ipswich: Turkey Hill & Damon Farm - In this episode, we took a 3 mile walk that started at the Turkey Hill Conservation area trailhead on Pineswamp Rd., and followed a connector trail to Essex County Greenbelt's new property, Kamon Farm. From there we enjoyed a scenic return on Pineswamp Rd. to the small parking lot for Turkey Hill.… Continue reading Destination Ipswich: Turkey Hill & Damon Farm →

Destination Ipswich: a walk up Spring Street - Join us or a walk up Spring Street where we visit the Dow Memorial, Baker's Pond, the brand new water tank, the Immigrants Cemetery, and we try to find "Second Sands."… Continue reading Destination Ipswich: a walk up Spring Street →

Destination Ipswich: a walk in the dunes - Gordon Harris kicks off the first episode of Ipswich ICAM'S "Destination Ipswich" series with a walk in the sand dunes at Castle Neck.… Continue reading Destination Ipswich: a walk in the dunes →

A visit to the Whipple House with Paul Valcour & Gordon Harris - In the second half of this Council on Aging video, Paul & Gordon step inside the Ipswich Museum's 1677 Whipple House to examine its unique architectural features.… Continue reading A visit to the Whipple House with Paul Valcour & Gordon Harris →

A stroll down Water Street - Join Paul Valcour and Gordon Harris on a walk along the river from the Green St. Bridge to the town wharf as we compare today's view with dozens of photos taken in the 19th and early 20th Centuries.… Continue reading A stroll down Water Street →

The Ipswich Revolt of 1687 - On August 23, 1687, the citizens of Ipswich, led by the Reverend John Wise, denounced the levy of taxes by the arbitrary government of Sir Edmund Andros, and from their protest sprang the American Revolution of 1689.… Continue reading The Ipswich Revolt of 1687 →