In the 19th Century, wealthy professionals and businessmen who chose to construct lavish summer homes in Swampscott for themselves and their families to enjoy its sea breezes and ocean views.
Author: Gordon Harris
Gordon Harris is a local historian living in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and publisher of the Historic Ipswich site. Follow him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordonrharris/
This Old House visits the Ipswich 1634 Meadery
Kevin O'Connor from This Old House drives to Ipswich and gets a lesson from Dan Clapp in making mead.
1816, the Year Without Summer
On June 5, 1816 a heat wave raised the temperature in Ipswich to 92° but that afternoon a cold front swept across New England and the temperature fell to 43° by the next morning. For the next four days there were severe frosts along the Eastern seaboard, and snow was recorded in some locations. By the 9th of June ice began to form on water left standing outside overnight. Rapid, dramatic temperature swings continued throughout the summer.
A Town of Immigrants
Puritans founded Ipswich during the “Great Migration” of the early 17th Century. Many residents of the town descend from immigrants who arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to work in the mills.
The Deadly 1896, 1911, and 1936 New England Heat Waves
A heat wave during the summer of 1896 produced 1500 deaths from the Midwest to New England. Fifteen years later the record for heat-related fatalities was broken. July 1936 remains the warmest U.S. month ever measured, and ironically, February, 1936 is the coldest February. Record-breaking temperatures in Boston, Providence, and Hartford set in 1936 stood until the summer of 2017.
Thomas and Susan French of Ipswich, and their Sons and Daughters
The largest contingent to arrive in Ipswich from the same village were 15 men and women from Assington, Suffolk, including Thomas French and his family.
The Tramp Reports
During the late 19th century and during the Great Depression, thousands of hobos and tramps arrived in Ipswich by the railroad.
Ipswich Copies of the Declaration of Independence
A handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence was entered in the Ipswich, MA town records in July 1776. On July 17, 1776, the Massachusetts Bay Council resolved to order an official printing of the Declaration of Independence. This copy of that printing, created by Boston printer Ezekiel Russell, was sent to the Rev. Lev. Frisbie in Ipswich, which is preserved in the Town vault.
Along the Old Bay Road
In 1639, the Colony ordered that a road be laid out from Boston to Portsmouth, to be constructed by each town along the way. The Bay Road made Ipswich an important stagecoach stop. Several milestones to indicate distances are still standing.
The Ipswich Female Seminary
The Ipswich Female Seminary was established in April 1828 by Zilpah Grant and 24-year-old Mary Lyon for the secondary and college-level education of young women. It was the first endowed seminary for women and the first to give diplomas to its graduates.
Benedict Arnold and the Fate of the American Revolution
In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental Army under George Washington evacuated New York after a devastating defeat by the British Army. One of Washington's favorite generals, Benedict Arnold, miraculously succeeded in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have ended the war. Thomas Franklin Waters wrote about Arnold's march through Ipswich on the way to Quebec "The… Continue reading Benedict Arnold and the Fate of the American Revolution
The Last Cottage on Plum Island
(This article was written by Beverly Perna before the cottage was torn down, and has been updated.) An iconic Ipswich landmark, the last privately owned cottage on the Ipswich end of Plum Island, was turned over to the Fish and Wildlife Service and was taken down in 2016. Boaters and Great Neck residents were most familiar with… Continue reading The Last Cottage on Plum Island
Remembering John Dolan
The following article was written in 2013 by Beverly Perna for the Ipswich Chronicle. Reprinted with permission. It is true—when you become “of an age,” you start to scan the obituaries. Sadly, with each passing year, I see more familiar names. If I didn’t know them, I knew of them. I looked at the paper last week, and one… Continue reading Remembering John Dolan
Ipswich Receives $1.2M Grant For Dam Removal
Ipswich Mills Dam Removal Project Nationally Recognized Among 43 Projects to Receive U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Funding On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that 29 states will receive just over $70 million to support 43 projects that will address outdated or obsolete dams, culverts, levees, and other barriers fragmenting… Continue reading Ipswich Receives $1.2M Grant For Dam Removal
A Nostalgic Glance at Harvard’s Early History
*From its earliest days, the people of Ipswich made frequent contributions to Harvard College. William Hubbard of Ipswich, the son of the Rev. William Hubbard, in his twenty-first year, was one of that remarkable group of nine young men whom Harvard College sent forth in 1642, as the first specimens of high culture achieved in… Continue reading A Nostalgic Glance at Harvard’s Early History
The Great and Famous Not So Gentle Ipswich Putdown
Republished from Ipswich Yesterday by Alice Keenan, 1982. Photos by George Dexter and Edward L. Darling. Ipswich has the habit, long ingrained, of turning on those who love her most, and who, innocently and willingly, donate their time, talents, energies, and in some cases — money -- for her welfare and adornment. Sometimes the reprimand is delivered… Continue reading The Great and Famous Not So Gentle Ipswich Putdown
