Follow the Ipswich River, starting at the Willowdale Dam and continuing past all four stone arch bridges in Ipswich, then along Water Street to the Town Wharf and out to sea. Many of these photos were digitally developed by the Town Historian from original glass negatives taken by three early Ipswich photographers:
- Arthur Wesley Dow, the famous Ipswich artist who operated a summer art school at the Howard House on Turkey Shore Rd. Dow and George Dexter were friends and were photography enthusiasts.
- George Dexter, early Ipswich photographer. These glass plate negatives are from the collection of Robert Cronin, Ipswich native. Dexter left his collection of glass plates in the barn owned by Cronin’s father. Robert wrote about working at his father’s store on the wharf.
- Edward L. Darling, glass plate negatives courtesy of Bill Barton, from the collection of Bill’s late grandfather William J. Barton. In the 1960’s, William J. Barton wrote his memories of these locations on the back of his framed collection of Darling photographs. His notes accompany the photos below.
- Other photos are from the Town Historian’s archives or courtesy of the Ipswich Museum. The identity of these photographers are often unknown.
Additional information is from The Industrial History of the Ipswich River, produced by Alan Pearsall and John Stump.
Clicking on a photo opens a slideshow. Exit the slideshow by clicking on the small X in the upper left corner.
Filed under: Photos
