On the Massachusetts North Shore
A Brief History of Native Americans in Ipswich Before English Colonization Native Americans began moving into New England after the retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet. In the early 1950s, a group of young amateur archaeologists, men now known as the “Bull Brook Boys,” discovered one of the largest Paleo-Indian sites in North America along… Continue reading Indigenous Peoples of the North Shore
At noon, a "midnight darkness" had fallen on Essex County. Candles were lighted, and fowls went to roost. By the next morning, dark ash lay four or five inches thick.
An accident at 4:40 pm on July 3 at the southeast end of the Choate Bridge destroyed the beautiful hand-made wrought-iron 1764 Choate Bridge sign, installed in 1996. The same spot on the bridge has seen two other accidents in recent years that dislodged sections of the parapet, requiring replacement. Damaged Choate Bridge signpost The… Continue reading Choate Bridge Sign is Destroyed by Driver
On July 14, 1681, Sarah Whipple Goodhue left a note to her husband that read: "Dear husband, if by sudden death I am taken away from thee, there is infolded among thy papers something that I have to say to thee and others." She died three days after bearing twins. This is the letter to her husband and children.
Elizabeth Howe and her husband James resided on outer Linebrook. She was charged with bewitching her neighbor’s child and was arrested on May 28, 1692. She was one of the five women hanged in Salem on July 19, 1692.
Walking tour from Meeting House Green Walking tours of historic Ipswich are led by local historian Gordon Harris, who tells the stories of the town's historic houses and the people who lived in them. The historic neighborhoods of Meeting House Green, High Street, the East End, and the South Green offer well-preserved streetscapes of 17th-… Continue reading Walking Tour of Historic Ipswich from Meeting House Green, Sunday, July 26, 2026
Alexander Hamilton wrote these words in a letter to George Washington on August 18, 1792. Political divisions between the Federalist Party (led by Hamilton) and the Democratic-Republican Party led by Thomas Jefferson were deepening. Jefferson’s adoring supporters organized large, well-attended events where they praised him in speeches and songs, while his political opponents portrayed him as a radical… Continue reading “The Hobby Horse of Popularity”
The Ipswich Open Space 2026 summer hiking series features a walk on the Dow and Bull Brook Conservation Area trails. We start at the Mile Lane Athletic field and follow trails along Bull Brook to the Dow Brook Reservoir. Along the way, Erren Bonney Casey from IRWA and Anne Carrol with the Ipswich Open Space… Continue reading Dow & Bull Brook Conservation Area Water Resources & Historic Walk, Friday, July 24, 2026
The 2026 Ipswich Downtown Tuesdays will again be hosted at the Take-out Terrace Truss & Stage on the Riverwalk Extension next to the Ipswich Mural. Admission is free! View and share on your phone. July 7: Orville Giddings Band July 14: Hilltown Hamhocks July 21: Chuck & The Players July 28: Clements Brothers August 4:… Continue reading Downtown Tuesdays, July – August, 2026
Despite the hot weather, a crowd estimated by some at over 1,000 people turned out on July 4, 2026, for the Independence Day Community Walk, Bike and Town Hall Field Day. The event marked the town's celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The one-mile parade route began at… Continue reading Hundreds Turn Out For Ipswich Independence Day Parade and Festivities
In John Adams’ 1765 opposition to the Stamp Act, he referenced the citizens of Ipswich who resisted a tax imposed by the Crown in 1687. An Ipswich town meeting on August 11, 1768 approved of "the Conduct of those Gentlemen of the late House of Representatives...when it was required of them at the Peril of their Political Existence." The Town meeting on Dec. 28, 1772 supported the rights of the Colonists as British subjects, and established a Committee of Correspondence to communicate resistance with the Committees of other towns. Delegates from throughout Essex County arrived in Ipswich on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 1774, and by unanimous vote, bound themselves together in establishment of the Provincial Congress for the common safety.
Thomas Paine In 1776, Thomas Paine's 47-page pamphlet "Common Sense" inspired the American Revolution. The following excerpts still speak true today: "The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers… Continue reading January 10, 1776: Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” is Published
The important events I shall describe were a mere tradition in the town where I was born. It was almost a revelation, when, in later years, I found unquestioned historical records deserving of national attention.
During the first two centuries of the Ipswich settlement, the tidal stream known as Gould's Creek was known as "Labor-in-Vain Crick." Having rowed against the incoming and outgoing tides passing under Gould's Bridge, it's quite obvious how the creek got its name. For about a mile flowing inward, it saturates the salt marsh between Labor… Continue reading The Labor in Vain Farm of Thomas & Elisabeth Emerson of Bishop’s Stortford, England, and Ipswich, Massachusetts
Shortly after the battle of Bunker Hill (actually Breeds Hill) on June 17, 1775, the Provincial Congress ordered that 10 companies of 50 men each should be raised in Essex County. Ipswich soldiers spent a long cold winter in Cambridge with insufficient supplies. The British finally evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776 after Washington's surprise… Continue reading June 10, 1776: Ipswich Pledges to Support Independence
"I feel unutterable anxiety. God grant us wisdom and fortitude! Should the opposition be suppressed, should this country submit, what infamy and ruin! God forbid. Death in any form is less terrible!"
Historic Ipswich 