Just past the Choate Bridge on South Main Street, the Ipswich Visitor Center is located in the Hall-Haskell House, sometimes called the “Little Red House.”
The Ipswich Visitor Center, located in the 1820 Hall-Haskell House, sits at the heart of our town on the Center Green, in one of several Ipswich historic districts. The Hall Haskell House operates spring through fall as an art gallery and welcome center, providing an abundance of maps & brochures, The Ipswich Visitor Center is staffed entirely by friendly and well-informed volunteers. The left side of the Hall-Haskell house is a gallery showcasing local & regional artists, changing weekly from June – October.
Ipswich Visitor Center Hours: Open 7 days a week, Memorial Day through Columbus Day. Call (978) 356-8540
- 11am – 3pm Mondays
- 10am – 4pm Tuesdays through Sunday
Read the History of the Hall-Haskell House
History of the Hall-Haskell House
In 1765 Henry Wise mortgaged his house and land to the widow Mary Storer of Boston, “a house in Ipswich in which I now dwell.” (116:77). On Sept. 13, 1800, Ebenezer Storer of Boston and others sold to Charles Hall Jr., a mariner, “all the estate in Ipswich which belonged to Mary Storer, deceased, and was formerly the estate of Henry Wise, … a lot of land on which formerly stood the house of said Henry Wise,” (170: 207). Charles Hall conveyed this lot, from which the dwelling had disappeared, to the widow Mary Hall and Sarah Rust on Oct. 29, 1819 (222: 28). It is believed that Mary Hall operated a small store in the building below her living quarters.
Mary Hall, Sarah Rust, and John Rust, a cordwainer, sold the land “with the store thereon” to Eunice Haskell, wife of Mark Haskell, on March 1, 1825 (236: 259). The 1832 Ipswich map shows the building owned by the “Widow Haskell”. The widow passed away in 1843 at age 91, and the house came into the possession of Abraham Caldwell, her son by her first marriage.
In the 1856 map, the property had come into the possession of Abraham Caldwell, and he changed the roof of the present building from a hip to a pitched roof. Structural features indicate that he added the right side of the building at that time. The basement floor under the larger left side has a brick floor, while the right side has soil. The floor framing and the foundation walls are different as well.
Abraham Caldwell sold to Mr. John Heard in 1864, as shown in the 1872 map. By this time, Mr. Heard owned almost all of the properties between Elm Street and South Main except for the former Town Hall and the Second Congregational Church, which stood facing the South Green. The large park-like lot stayed in the Heard family, and the last resident of the house was the widow of John Heard, who died in 1930.
By the 1980s, the house, now in bad condition, was in the possession of the Town of Ipswich, which planned to demolish the building. In 1987, the town received a matching grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission to help restore the structure. It was saved due to the efforts of Terri Stephens, Vivian Endicott, Paul McGinley, Paula Bishop, Stephanie Gaskins, Don Curiale, and the Essex National Heritage Commission.
In 1991, members of the advanced woodworking class at Ipswich High School raised the beam that supports the ceiling of the Ipswich Arts side of the Hall Haskell House. The little red house on South Main Street now serves as the Ipswich Visitor Center, open in the summer months as an art gallery.
Personal Narratives of How the Hall-Haskell House Was Saved
Terri Stephens:
The Hall Haskell House was in desperate need of help and had been slated for demolition back in the early 1980s. A few local people interested in historic preservation did some research on the building and formed a committee called “Friends of the Little Red House” to save the Little Red House as it was known by that name. Those first involved with this whole process were Vivian Endicott, Terri Stephens, Bill Thoen, Peg Burr, Peg Broekel, and Isadore Smith. Terri and Vivian spent many hours talking with local business owners, selectmen, and the town manager, George Howe, to get their support to save the house.
Initially, we were met with lots of negativity, but with polite persistence, the selectmen and town manager gave their blessing to proceed with our idea. There were 2 requirements: (1)We were not to seek funding from the town for restoration, and (2) Being a town-owned building, we, as private citizens, needed to become a standard committee of the town. This took place at the 1981 Ipswich Town Meeting under Article 44. Mrs. Vivian Endicott moved that the town vote (1) to establish a standing committee known as the Hall Haskell House Committee and (2) to assign to them the management of the Hall Haskell House on its original site at the entrance to the business district of Ipswich, said committee (3) to designate its use as a civic center, for promoting the town’s interest in horticulture and agriculture, architectural and historic preservation and for providing information to welcome visitors to Ipswich.
This committee then proceeded to start raising funds to stabilize the building. With advice from town historian Mary Conley, town planner Betsy Ware, and Paul McGinley, preservationist Terri Stephens took on the role of grant writing, and various grants were submitted to various foundations. In 1987, we were awarded a grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission for $20,000.
On September 28, 1978, a town meeting approved the $ 20,000 appropriation, which acted as a loan to cover the project. Once the work was completed, the town would be reimbursed. Terri Stephens functioned as the project manager. The unfortunate side of the grant requirement was that a contractor needed to be on Mass Historical’s approval list, and no local contractors qualified, so we ended up having to subcontract to a qualified individual.
Over the years, committee members were involved with all facets of the project, and some of us continue to this day. Bill Thoen, as a structural engineer, offered advice and physical labor for some of the projects. James Lahar took on the role of treasurer. Don Curiali, along with the Essex National Heritage Area, brought about the visitor center signage and location. Stephanie Gaskins joined our committee in the 90s, and the art gallery has been her responsibility. This has been a long journey, and many changes have occurred over time, but our main goal that the building be available for community activities has stood the test of time.
It has been very gratifying to be involved with this building over time, and I am grateful to the town manager, board of selectmen, all the volunteers who staff the visitor center, town employees, and others who have helped and continue to help along the way. —Terri Stephens
Stephanie Gaskins:
I joined the Hall Haskell House Committee in the early 90s, when, after saving the building from demolition and stabilizing the structure, there was plenty of work to be done on the interior. There were holes in the floors, no heat, no bathroom, and the ceiling of the first floor was falling down. Bill Thoen enlisted the help of the high school manual arts department, and soon the project was underway. Bill’s expertise and the boys’ enthusiasm installed a new beam, and the building was declared safe for use. Bob Linehan found the proper wide boards to patch the floor, and Dave Humphrey created the first indoor bathroom of the house. The first floor was painted and ready for occupancy.
Massachusetts was looking for a home for the Ipswich Information Center, and there was a need for an outlet for the burgeoning art community. Thousands of visitors have been greeted by local volunteers who staff the information center, and hundreds of Ipswich artists have shown their art during the past three decades. Scheduling and supervising the May to December season of the Hall Haskell House Gallery has been my pleasure, and although I joined the Hall Haskell House Committee a bit later than the original group, I have been involved now for three decades and am proud of our town for continuing to give its artists a venue, and thankful to the artists who support the building. —Stephanie Gaskins
Don Curiale wrote, “I remain proud of our Ipswich Center, our enduring spirit of volunteerism, and other local citizens who raised funds and restored the house. After many fundraisers and work on the house, it was opened as an art space and later became home to the Ipswich Visitor Center. A bench dedicated to Vivian Endicott is in the garden behind the house.”
Download: “History of the Hall-Haskell House” by Gordon Harris
Sources:
- Waters, Franklin Thomas: Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Vol. 1, page 452).
- Bush, Dona Lee, “The Hall-Haskell House”
Hall – Haskell House, 36 S. Main St. Preservation Agreement
- Hall-Haskell-house-36-south-main-preservation-agreement-page-1
- Hall-Haskell-house-36-south-main-preservation-agreement-page-2
- Hall-Haskell-house-36-south-main-preservation-agreement-page-3
Historic Ipswich 
A most interesting area where I completed High School at the old school in 1955. I departed for the USAF in1957 and never came home to live as my Air Force carrier kept me moving until I retired in Sherwood Arkansas in 1979. Carl