The Ipswich Museum was all set with tents, flags, banners, lights, and music to welcome General Lafayette at 6:00 pm on Saturday, August 31. The people of Ipswich gathered to celebrate and reenact the Marquis de Lafayette's visit to our town on August 31, 1824. In 1823, General Lafayette received an invitation from President James… Continue reading Lafayette returns to Ipswich
Year: 2024
Homes of the Manning Family of Ipswich
Nicholas Manning immigrated from England to Salem, MA, as early as 1662. He was later joined by his youngest brother Thomas, who became the common ancestor of the prominent Manning family of Ipswich.
President Washington Visits Ipswich, October 30, 1789
On October 30, 1789, Washington passed through Ipswich on his ten-day tour of Massachusetts. Adoring crowds greeted the President at Swasey’s Tavern (still standing at the corner of Popular and County Streets) where he stopped for food and drink.
Honoring the Freeman family of Ipswich
Descendants of the enslaved Freeman family of Ipswich will gather at First Church in Ipswich for presentations and discussion, followed by the unveiling of historic plaques honoring the family and their son John Freeman, a black Revolutionary War soldier. The public is cordially invited. Light refreshments will be available.
The Story of Argilla Farm, 107 Argilla Rd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onAE4zmpe9I The land and marsh on the east side of Labour-in-vain Creek, extending to Northgate Road were bequeathed to John Winthrop in 1634. The Agawam Sagamore Masconomet had controlled the land, and made terms with Winthrop as follows: " I doth testify that I Maskonomet did give to Mr. John Winthrop all that ground that… Continue reading The Story of Argilla Farm, 107 Argilla Rd.
Mason’s Claim
On January 4, 1681, John T. Mason presented the King's letter to the General Court, which ordered "all said tenants" to appear in Ipswich. If an ancient claim was confirmed, every land title would be worthless and a landed medieval system known as "quit-rents" could be grafted upon New England.
Two-Volume Set Documents the Birds of Essex County
Order at Amazon Ornithologist Jim Berry of Ipswich has updated Charles Wendell Townsend's "The Birds of Essex County," including songbirds, marsh birds, seabirds, raptors, and other species that visit our yards, woodlands, marshes, and coastlines. The two-volume set documents the natural history of all the bird species that have ever been positively documented in Essex County,… Continue reading Two-Volume Set Documents the Birds of Essex County
The Treadwell House at Willcomb’s Square
"My neighbor’s house was sold to the town and wrecked and picked clean by salvagers and finally burned in a great bonfire of old notched beams and splintered clapboards that leaped tree-high throughout one whole winter day’s cold drizzle. Then bulldozers, huge and yellow and loud, appeared on the street and began to gnaw, it seemed, at the corner of our house.
A Chronology of Ipswich Public Works: Telegraph, Telephone, Gas, Water, Electricity, Trash, Sewer, Wind and Solar
The history of public utilities in Ipswich starting in 1847. Downtown fires in 1894 prompted construction of the water and electrical systems. Today the Ipswich Electric Department promotes and utilizes renewable energy sources.
The Great Ipswich Fright, April 21, 1775
A rumor spread that two British ships were in the river, and were going to burn the town. The news spread as far as New Hampshire, and in every place the report was that the regulars were but a few miles behind them, slashing everyone in sight.
William Franklin of Newbury, Hanged for the Death of an Indentured Child in 1644
Nathaniel Sewell, a child taken from England, was with continual rigor and unmerciful correction, exposed in the winter season with diverse acts of hardship.
Strawberry Hill and Greenwood Farm
The landscape surrounding Strawberry Hill on Jeffreys Neck Rd. invokes a time when saltwater farms were common in Ipswich. Across the street is Greenwood Farm and the First Period Payne House, owned by the Trustees of Reservations.
Regarding the Removal of the Ipswich Mills Dam
By Ipswich resident Roger Wheeler On May 21, a yes vote to remove the head of tide Ipswich Mills Dam and free the river will provide Ipswich, Essex County, and New England with a rare fish-accessible river. This could be an extraordinarily uncommon river and watershed if all fish have accessibility at the head of… Continue reading Regarding the Removal of the Ipswich Mills Dam
Photos from the 2016 Drawdown of the Ipswich River
During the 2016 summer drought, the water level behind the Ipswich Mills Dam was intentionally lowered by about 3 feet to ascertain the geology of the river at that location, to examine the foundation of one of the mill buildings, and to help determine what the river upstream of the dam will look like when… Continue reading Photos from the 2016 Drawdown of the Ipswich River
Acadian Exiles in Ipswich, 1755
Massachusetts men played a conspicuous part in the French and Indian War, which resulted in wholesale destruction and deportation in French-speaking Nova Scotia. Surviviors were exiled to the Colonies, their children taken from them and distributed to English families as "nothing more than slaves."
Samuel J. Goodhue’s Pier 1 Canoe Depot
In the late 19th century, Samuel Goodhue operated a canoe rental business on the Ipswich River at the end of Peatfield St in the area known as Pole Alley.
Historic Ipswich 