On the Massachusetts North Shore
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.
After the first stocking machine was smuggled from England to Ipswich in 1822, immigrants arrived in Ipswich to work in the cotton and hosiery mills, contributing to the town's diverse cultural heritage.
On January 12, 1912, the labor protest later known as the "Bread and Roses" strike began in Lawrence, MA. Violent methods were used to suppress the protest, but the strikers maintained their solidarity.
In 1773, the selectmen ordered all houses where the disease had appeared to be closed, and dogs to be killed immediately. The fears of the inhabitants increased when permission was granted to build a smallpox hospital on Cat Island.
An estimated 1,500 cases of the so-called "Spanish flu in Ipswich resulted in at least 66 deaths. It is believed that the country reached herd immunity after the virus mutated to a less lethal variant. By the end of the pandemic, the average life expectancy had been shortened by 12 years!
Teddy Roosevelt, a grandstanding performer with plenty of rhetoric but fewer accomplishments, campaigned from the caboose of a train in New England.
Three gales of unequaled fury and destructiveness swept along our coast carrying desolation and death in their stormy pathway, and overwhelming many families in the deepest mourning.
"Most of them had pea and bean porridge, sometimes hasty pudding, both morning and evening. A lady of eighty, after having partaken of Thanksgiving dainties, was heartily glad to return home and set a meal of her favorite broth."
Baseball's popularity grew quickly after the Civil War, and Bialek Park was once the town's semi-professional ballpark, In 1912 the town purchased the two private lots that had been the ballpark, constructed a public playground, and removed the fence.
In March 1934, Congress passed the Civilian Conservation bill, creating the Works Progress Administration and the Civil Conservation Corps which accomplished several projects in Ipswich.
The recently installed plaque on N. Main St. commemorates the visit by the Marquis de Lafayette to Ipswich in 1824 courtesy of the Lafayette Trail organization and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. When the First Provincial Congress met in Salem Massachusetts on Friday, October 7, 1774, Ipswich was represented by General Michael Farley. At 56… Continue reading Meeting House Green Plaque Commemorates Lafayette’s Visit to Ipswich
The 1954 storm knocked down trees and power lines all over Ipswich. Hurricane Carol devastated the Massachusetts south coast and Rhode Island, and was responsible for 65 deaths. On September 11, Hurricane Edna hit New England with additional destruction.
The Eastern Railroad's Portland Express slammed into the rear of a stopped local train in Revere, Massachusetts. Some trapped passengers were burned alive as coal-oil lamps ignited the wreckage. Approximately 29 people died..
The boatyard, constructed in 1954, burned in a spectacular fire, and has since been replaced by a residential building.
In September 1740, two Massachusetts Land Banks organized and issued £50,000 of notes of varying amounts, without legal authorization of the Crown. An Act of Parliament declared all the transactions of the two Bank Schemes illegal and void.
Essex County was subjected to days of relentless, pouring rain that caused millions of dollars in property damage, deaths and left Ipswich nearly isolated from neighboring communities.
Historic Ipswich 