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Renovating an old house
Being the Town Historian is simply its own reward, so I make my living as a carpenter, as I have done for almost 40 years. Recently I finished renovating on an old house in a nearby town, that may have...
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William Jeffreys’ Neck
This history of Jeffreys Neck is from the Agawam Manual and Directory by M.V.B. Perley, published in 1888. The business of fur-trading and fishing along the New England coast received a new impetus...
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Ipswich Old North Burying Ground
The Ipswich Historical Commission site features a comprehensive index of the Old North Burying Ground, including photos of the 1300 graves representing 1800 interments. The Old North Burying Ground...
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The Cold Friday of 1810 – New England Historical Society
In 1857, Henry David Thoreau wrote about the Cold Friday of 1810, the coldest New England winter of the 19th century, with heavy snow, brutal cold and violent winds from mid-December until late April....
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Playoff-Grade Guinness Beef Stew
Hello, sports fans. What could be a better way to stave off today’s blustery winds, frigid temperatures and icy walkways than by watching a red-blooded, All American Football Classic? Why, doing so as...
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Ipswich after a snowstorm, circa 1900
This photo was taken by Ipswich photographer George Dexter in the late 19th or early 20th Century from Town Hill above High Street, in the vicinity of Highland Cemetery. The First Church and Methodist...
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“Yacht Basin,” 1910
Two photos by Ipswich photographer George Dexter, 1910. Dexter identified them simply as “Yacht Basin.” While I assumed at first that this is the “Newburyport Yacht Basin,” I’m told that it is more...
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View of Tilton Hill and Fox Island before 1900
This recently discovered photograph appears to have been taken from Fox Creek Rd. well before the 20th Century. The cottages are on Tilton Hill, The Ipswich River is beyond them, with an unpopulated...
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Postcards from Newburyport
(Click on any image to begin a slideshow. Press the X in the top left corner or the Esc button to leave the slide show). Filed under: Photos
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Postcards from Ipswich
Click on any image to begin the slideshow. To leave the slideshow and return to Stories from Ipswich hit the Esc button or click on the X in the top left corner Postcards from Gloucester Postcards from...
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Photos from the 1934 parade celebrating the 300th Anniversary of the founding...
The Indian village of Agawam became a Puritan settlement in 1633 as an outpost of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The community was named Ipswich in 1634 upon the official founding of the town. Click on...
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“Newburyport and its Neighborhoods,” Harpers Magazine 1875
Excerpt from “Newburyport and its Neighborhood” by Harriet Prescott Spofford, July 1875, the New Harper’s Monthly Magazine. “The history of Newburyport, and of her mother Newbury, much of which has...
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A McIntire house in Topsfield
Thomas Perkins came to Boston with his parents from Gloucestershire in 1631. The family settled in the outlying part of Ipswich known as New Meadows and engaged in farming. The area was incorporated as...
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Photos from Ipswich
Over 300 photos from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, including Market, Central, North Main, South Main, County and Water Streets and Lords Square, churches, schools, stores, factories, Town...
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George Dexter’s Ipswich
Perhaps the best-known early Ipswich Photographer was George Dexter (1862-1927). His photograph’s along with those of Edward Lee Darling (1874-1962) provide a wonderful visual history of the town....
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Old Town, a colonial neighborhood in Marblehead
“Old Town” in Marblehead, MA is a visual delight, packed with colorful early 18th Century homes and a few dating to before the 17th Century. Navigating its narrow streets during the tourist season can...
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Carted back to Ipswich
In the Old North Burying Yard on High Street in Ipswich lies the body of the Reverend Samuel Belcher, the first settled minister in the parish in West Newbury. It is said that the Rev. Belcher was...
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The Crane Beach children’s picnic
In 1911, Florence and Richard Teller Crane, Jr. invited the school children of Ipswich to a picnic on Crane Beach to celebrate their son Cornelius’ 6th birthday. The event became an annual tradition,...
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A photographic and chronological history of the Ipswich schools
*A public forum about the elementary school building project will be held on Wednesday evening, February 10, 2016 8:00 pm at the Ipswich Town Hall, Room A (Selectmen’s Meeting room). This page...
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