By the early 1840s, Essex no longer had its own fishing fleet, but had turned to year-round shipbuilding, fostering a symbiotic relationship with the successful fishermen in Gloucester.
Building a Ship in Essex
Tag: burnham
Her Name Was Patience
"Know all men by these presents I, Thomas Burnam of Ipswich, do by these presents bargain, sell, sett over and confirm unto the said Robert Dodge, a negro girl known by the name of Patience...To have and to hold said negro girl Patience during her natural life."
Arrival of the English
Within three years of the arrival of the Winthrop fleet to New England, so many immigrants had arrived in Massachusetts Bay that Boston Neck could not hold them all. Perceiving a threat from the French, thirteen men arrived in 1633 to establish the town that would be named Ipswich a year later.
Three Old Houses at the Intersection of Poplar St. and Turkey Shore
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.
The Women of Chebacco Build a Meeting House
When Chebacco Parish (now Essex) began building their own meeting house, Ipswich authorities obtained an order that “No man shall build a meeting house at Chebacco.” Abigail Proctor saw a glaring legal loophole...
Choate Island and Rufus Choate
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.
Building Wooden Ships
Shipwright Harold A Burnham comes from a family who have been building wooden boats in Essex MA for several generations. Produced by Blake Road Productions LLC for the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Historic Ipswich 