Historic photos of the Ipswich River from original glass negatives taken by early Ipswich photographers Arthur Wesley Dow, George Dexter and Edward L. Darling.
Category: History
Ipswich Hosiery
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.
January 12, 1912: Lawrence Bread and Roses strike
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.
The Marblehead Smallpox Riot, January 1774
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.
The 1918 Flu Epidemic in Ipswich
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’s Ipswich Whistlestop, December 1912
Teddy Roosevelt, a grandstanding performer with plenty of rhetoric but fewer accomplishments, campaigned from the caboose of a train in New England.
Awful Calamities: the Shipwrecks of December, 1839
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.
Play Ball! Bialek Park
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.
Ipswich in the Great Depression
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.
Meeting House Green Plaque Commemorates Lafayette’s Visit to 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
Saving John Appleton’s house
In 1962 the historic house at the corner of Central and North Main Streets was purchased by Exxon to demolish and build a gas station on the site. The Ipswich Heritage Trust was created to save it.
The Great Revere Train wreck, August 26, 1871
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..
Illegal Currency: Ipswich and the Land Bank Scheme of 1740-41
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.
Deluge! An Eyewitness Account of the Mother’s Day Storm of 2006
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.
The Greek Hotel
In 1868, the Ipswich Mills built a "fine mansion" for the use of its superintendent. By 1910 the building had become a tenement upstairs and coffee shop downstairs. The house was replaced by a succession of three diners, but the lot is now a parking lot.
The Grand Old Fourth
"The night before the Fourth of July, thousands of people were milling up and down Central and Market Streets and Depot Square. Every man and boy carried a revolver and shot off blank cartridges as fast as they could reload. "At five o'clock on the morning of the Fourth, the sexton of the Methodist Church could open up the doors and let in the boys to ring the church bell for an hour. Then came the parade."
