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The stagecoach in Ipswich
The first stagecoach in Essex County, drawn by four horses, was established in 1774 and connected Newburyport with Boston via Salem and Ipswich. By the early 1800’s, up to seventeen stagecoaches and...
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Last Roundup at the Lazy-K Ranch
Oh, nostalgia, that sentimental longing for things past, whether it be moments, people or places. Like many of you marching into the golden years, your arthritic affiant occasionally finds himself...
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Open Doors of Ipswich will feature 5 historic houses
The Open Doors of Ipswich house tour is Saturday September 23 from 10 am to 4 pm. Once every two years we get the opportunity to go inside some of the oldest and most modern homes in Ipswich, with a...
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To secure a competence
The following remarks were made by the Ipswich Historical Commission chairman John Fiske, on accepting the 2014 Community Service Award from the Ipswich Democratic Town Committee on January 31, 2015:...
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Sunday Nov. 19: “The Artisans of Ipswich” with Robert Tarule
As part of this year’s “Ipswich is First…Period” celebrations, the Ipswich Historical Commission will present a a talk by Robert Tarule, “The Artisans of Ipswich: The Men Who Made our Town.” Robert...
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The “new” houses on East Street
We have been researching the identities of five small houses on East Street on the south side, between North Main and County Streets, constructed after 1856. The Google Maps screenshot below is above....
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Lydia Wardwell on her presentment for coming naked into Newbury meeting house
In 1661, a new meeting house was erected in Newbury, Massachusetts. Men and women were assigned seats in accordance with their social rank and condition. Lydia Perkins, wife of Eliakim Wardwell of...
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The hanging of John Williams and William Schooler, July 1637
In 1637, two men convicted on separate counts of murder were executed in Boston on the same gallows. John Williams was convicted of killing John Hoddy near Great Pond in Wenham on the road to Ipswich....
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Daniel Low’s Silver “Witch Spoons” among Salem’s First Souvenirs
By Helen Breen Daniel Low & Co. started on the bottom floor of the First Church, Unitarian, 231 Essex Street at the corner of Washington Street in Salem. The jewelry company purchased the church in...
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Heritage and genealogy tourism in Ipswich
Oscar Handlin wrote in his 1979 book, Truth in History: “The distinctive cultural development of the New World made history one of the early forms of American literature…Americans always had to explain...
View ArticleThe Fox Creek Canal
The Fox Creek Canal is the oldest man-made tidewater canal in the United States, dug in 1820. In 1938 it was dredged to accommodate ship-building at Robinson's Boatyard, where small minesweepers were...
View ArticleHurricanes and winter storms
Stories about historic storms to hit the coast of Massachusetts… Continue reading Hurricanes and winter storms →
View ArticleThe Blizzard of ’78, February 5, 1978
The "Blizzard of '78" raged from Sunday evening February 5 through Tuesday evening February 7. Over a billion dollars of damage occurred, including the loss of 11,000 homes and the lives of 29...
View ArticleA History of Clark Pond, Great Neck, Ipswich MA
Clark Pond was originally an intertidal salt marsh supported by fresh water sources draining from the surrounding hills and tidal salt water from the ocean. Around 1897, A. B. Clark built a stone dam...
View ArticleA romantic tale from the Great Snow of Feb. 21-24, 1717
Snowstorms on the 20th and 24th of February 1717 covered the earth up to 20 ft. deep. In some places houses were completely buried, and paths were dug from house to house under the snow. A widow in...
View ArticleAsbury Grove Methodist Camp Meeting, Hamilton MA
The Asbury Grove Methodist Camp Meeting on Asbury St. in Hamilton is listed in the National Register of Historic Districts, and has a collection of historic buildings that were built between 1870 and...
View Article“To the Inhabitants of the Town of Ipswich,” from Thomas Jefferson
The Embargo Act of 1807 put New England ports at a standstill and its towns into a depression. The Ipswich Town Meeting petitioned the President to relieve "the people of this once prosperous country...
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