On the Massachusetts North Shore
Abbott Lowell Cummings was the leading authority of Seventeenth and early Eighteenth Century (“First Period”) architecture in the American Northeast and author of The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay.
Lucretia Brown, an invalid living on the South Green in Ipswich was a disciple of Mary Baker Eddy,. When she suffered a “relapse” in 1875, Mrs. Eddy convinced her that Daniel Spofford was exercising mesmeric powers upon her.
(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
The Glen Magna Estate is now managed as a non-profit by the Danvers Historical Society. Photo courtesy North of Boston magazine Article by Helen Breen Before the advent of modern transportation, affluent city dwellers often built their summer residences within a few miles of home. Such was the case when shipping magnate Joseph Peabody (1757-1844), "the… Continue reading Glen Magna and the Joseph Peabody Family of Salem
The frame of a 1692 house that once stood at the intersection of Manning and High Streets in Ipswich is on display in the "Art of the Americas" wing at the Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.
The Dr.John Calef House, the Heard-Lakeman House and the Burnham-Patch-Day House sit near each other, a charming sample of 18th century Ipswich architecture.
William Donton, a mariner bought the lot on the corner of North Main and Summer Streets in 1695 and constructed a picturesque post-medieval-style house, a landmark whose disappearance we still regret today.
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.
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onAE4zmpe9I The land and marsh on the east side of Labour-in-vain Creek, extending to Northgate Road were bequeathed to John Winthrop in 1634. The Agawam Sagamore Masconomet had controlled the land, and made terms with Winthrop as follows: " I doth testify that I Maskonomet did give to Mr. John Winthrop all that ground that… Continue reading The Story of Argilla Farm, 107 Argilla Rd.
"My neighbor’s house was sold to the town and wrecked and picked clean by salvagers and finally burned in a great bonfire of old notched beams and splintered clapboards that leaped tree-high throughout one whole winter day’s cold drizzle. Then bulldozers, huge and yellow and loud, appeared on the street and began to gnaw, it seemed, at the corner of our house.
The home of Christian Wainwright house originally sat next door to the Nathaniel Treadwell house at 12 North Main Street. In 1845 Joseph Baker moved it to the corner of Market and Saltonstall Streets. The Ipswich Historical Society tore down the house in order to create a better view of the Whipple House before it was moved to the South Green.
John Sparks was granted a license to open an inn and sell beer "at a penny a quart." The tavern became a popular stopping place on the Bay Road, where men of business would meet for food and drink. The Court met at this location, where it heard and dismissed charges of witchcraft.
Choate Island was originally known as Hog Island, and is the largest island in the Crane Wildlife Refuge and is the site of the Choate family homestead, the Proctor Barn, the White Cottage, and the final resting place of Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Crane. There are great views from the island summit of the Castle Neck dunes and Plum Island Mount Agamenticus in Maine.
A photographic history of architecture in Ipswich Massachusetts
At the Select Board meeting on Monday, August 8, 2023, members of the Ipswich Historical Commission presented the 2022 awards to an historic house and a Civil War era barn that were recently restored and renovated.
Historic Ipswich 