On the Massachusetts North Shore
John Choate, the early settler of that name arrived in Ipswich during the Great Puritan Migration of the 1630s and ‘40s as a young man, and soon eventually acquired land in Chebacco, originally a part of Ipswich which broke away in 1820. By the 3rd generation, Choate family members lived in Newbury and Newburyport, marrying… Continue reading A Brief History of the Choates of Ipswich, Essex, and Newburyport
In 1963 this house was slated for destruction, but through the efforts of local preservationists was relocated to the Smithsonian where it resides as the Museum’s largest artifact on permanent display.
The American Society of Civil Engineers cites the Choate Bridge in Ipswich as the oldest documented two-span masonry arch bridge in the U.S., and the oldest extant bridge in Massachusetts.
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 mild controversy has arisen in the town of Ipswich about what to name the grassy lawn between the Old Town Hall and the Ipswich Museum. Depending on who you ask, it's the Middle Green, Memorial Green, Veterans Green, or the Visitor Center Lawn, and I'll add "Augustine Heard's back yard" just to add to the confusion.
Historic Ipswich 