On the Massachusetts North Shore
In 1881, a 45-foot cast iron lighthouse was erected at Crane Beach, replacing an earlier structure. By 1913, the sand had shifted so much that the lighthouse was 1,090 feet from the high water mark. Use of the light was discontinued in 1932 and in 1939 the Coast Guard floated the entire lighthouse to Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard.
As the young boys who arrived with the first settlers of Ipswich approached adulthood, they developed a fondness for hard liquor and rowdiness, which frequently landed them in court.
We received the sad news today of the death of Mary Ellen Lepionka on October 7, 2024. Mary Ellen wrote prolifically about the Native Americans who lived in our area before European colonization and their descendants. In her professional career, Mary Ellen Lepionka taught social sciences at the college and high school levels, after which… Continue reading Remembering Mary Ellen Lepionka
In the first half of the Eighteenth Century, Col. Thomas Berry was the most conspicuous citizen of the Town, "Autocrat of his time, Magistrate, Military leader, Physician and Statesman."
High Street originally continued straight until the first bridge over the railroad tracks was constructed in 1906. From 1900 when the first trolleys came to town until the bridge was built, passengers had to unload here to switch from the trolley from Newburyport to continue through Ipswich.
The Fox Creek Canal is the oldest man-made tidewater canal in the United States, dug in 1820. In 1938 it was dredged to accommodate ship-building at Robinson's Boatyard, where small minesweepers were constructed for World War II.
A small dwelling was moved in 1735 to the southeast side of the Choate Bridge where it was greatly expanded and became known as the Ross Tavern. The building was moved again in 1940 to the former Wendel Estate on Jeffreys Neck Road.
The 1893 Birdseye map shows a serious washout just to the east of the Old North Burying Ground, forming a deep gully. A late 19th Century photo taken by Arthur Wesley Dow shows rocks and soil pushed up against a barn and sheds that once stood below.
Private Joseph Stockwell Manning grew up in Ipswich, and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on December 1, 1864, a year and two days after an incredible act of bravery at Fort Sanders, Tennessee. in November, 1863.
Remarks by Ipswich Historical Commission chairman John Fiske, on accepting the 2014 Community Service Award from the Ipswich Democratic Town Committee to the Historical Commission on January 31, 2015
In 1803, a group of Newburyport investors incorporated as the Newburyport Turnpike Corporation in a commercial venture to build a straight toll road from Boston to Newburyport (the highway we call Rt. 1).
In 1963 this house was slated for destruction, but through the efforts of local preservationists was relocated to the Smithsonian where it resides as the Museum’s largest artifact on permanent display.
Christopher and Sarah Bidlake, who married in Ipswich, Massachusetts, were the common ancestors of the Bidlack family of Windham County, Connecticut. The above sketch of Windham Center in the 1830s is by John Warner Barber. Sarah Bidlake was the daughter of John Fuller and Elizabeth (Emerson) Perrin, and a granddaughter of Thomas Emerson who was born… Continue reading Christopher and Sarah Bidlake
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
The moral of this story is that it's never too late to decide what you're going to be when you grow up.
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.
Historic Ipswich 