The Town Historian's Old House Blog
William Howard purchased this lot 1679, and the left side of this house was built the following year. Howard died in 1709 at age 75, his son inherited the property, and it was at this time that the right side was added.
Despite its later construction, this building is often included among the approximately 59 First Period houses in Ipswich.
This house is named for a long-serving clerk in the Ipswich Probate Court. Allen Perley, the original grantee of the lot, built the first house on the site before 1650. The property went through several owners before it was purchased by Nathaniel Lord in 1741. The oldest section is the western half, and was originally… Continue reading The Nathaniel Lord House, 73 High St, (1741-1847)
William Donton (aka Donnton, Dounton), a mariner, and his wife Mary bought the lot on the corner of North Main and Summer Streets in 1695 and constructed a picturesque post-medieval-style house with overhangs and a saltbox rear addition. The house was an Ipswich landmark whose disappearance we still regret today. William Donton was born in… Continue reading The Donton-Dodge House
The lot at 48 Turkey Shore Rd. was purchased in 1720 by Daniel Hodgkin, when he married Abigail Hovey. He died at sea in 1740, but the house stayed in the Hodgkins family until 1813. The house is one of three five-bay gambrel capes in Ipswich, with two windows on either side of a central… Continue reading The Nathaniel Hodgkins House, 48 Turkey Shore (1720)
Hundreds of cars use the Ipswich River bridge that connects Mill Rd. in Ipswich to Highland St. in Hamilton without the occupants seeing the three stone arches below them, but a landmark we're probably all familiar with is the old mill building on the Hamilton side of the bridge. A grist mill was first constructed… Continue reading The Last Days of Norwood’s Mill
This house has three entrances, and the corner section at North Main and East Street, constructed in 1737, has significant First Period elements that may be from a 1696 barn that was previously at this location. The rest of the house has Georgian and Federal features and a continuous hip roof, dating to the second… Continue reading The Day-Dodge House, 57 N. Main St. (1737)
The second Treadwell's Inn was constructed in 1806 in the boxy Federal style and was a stop for over a dozen stagecoaches daily. The arrival of the railroad in the 1840s brought a flood of tourists, and the shallow hip roof was replaced with a Mansard roof that provided a third floor of rooms. In… Continue reading The Agawam House Hotel, 26 N. Main Street (1806)
This house is legendary in Ipswich as a stop on the Underground Railroad. A trap door in a rear room opens to a hand-made ladder to the basement and a small brick chamber with a cast-iron door where the fugitive slaves probably hid. The Underground Railroad in Eastern Mass. Thomas Manning was the son of legendary… Continue reading The Dr. Thomas Manning House, 19 N. Main St. (1799)
The so-called Benjamin Kimball House at 3 Summer Street began as a single-room structure that was doubled in width, then doubled in height, and is one of dozens of houses standing in Ipswich that were moved from their original locations. An unusual feature of this house is that it has gunstock corner posts on the… Continue reading The Smith-Gould House, 3 Summer St. (c. 1730)
Excerpts from an article written by Alice Keenan in 1982: What was to become of the old Lummus house that was in its last stages of ruinous decrepitude - would they tear it down, we wondered? Certainly, it could never be restored. Well, we wrote to our friend the other day that a small miracle… Continue reading The Jonathan Lummus House, 45 High St. (1712)
Alexander Knight his wife Hannah Tully arrived in Ipswich in 1635 from Chelmsford, Essex, England, and were granted a lot to build a house on High Street across from today's Lords Square. In 1648 the house burned down; their child Nathaniel died when his clothes caught on fire. Alexander was accused of the death by… Continue reading The Alexander Knight House
The first known owner of this house was William Hodgkins, but the exact date of construction is unknown. The house was sold in 1718 to Archelaus Lakeman, and it stayed in the Lakeman family for 200 years.
The Manning family is an Ipswich success story. Thomas Manning, a commoner, was employed in 1661 to keep the flock of sheep on the north side of the river. His grandson Joseph Manning graduated from Harvard College, and served the town as a highly-regarded physician for 50 years. Joseph's son John Manning and grandson Thomas… Continue reading The Dr. Joseph Manning House, 31 S. Main St. (1727)
In 1658, Corporal John Andrews was complained of in court by the most prominent men in town for keeping the doors of his inn open past nine o’clock, entertaining young men in devious ways, and selling wine upon pretense of selling by the gallon and yet drawing it by the pint. Their petition against the… Continue reading The White Horse Inn, 34 High St. (1659 / 1763)
I'm frequently asked, "What's the oldest house in Ipswich?" It's not an easy question to answer. Dendrochronology (tree ring counting) showed that the earliest part of the Whipple House, which was thought to be the oldest house in town, dates to 1677, and the "1640 Hart House" was constructed about 1678. The Merchant-Choate House by… Continue reading The Giddings-Burnham House, 43 Argilla Road (c. 1640-1680)
After wealthy Richard Haffield of Chebacco Parish died, his widow slowly went insane, and her daughter Rachel, who lived with her, foolishly married a younger man named Lawrence Clinton who connived to steal their inheritance. In 1655, the Town of Ipswich took mercy on the old woman and sold her "four rods of ground...near the… Continue reading The Samuel Dutch House, 69 S. Main St. (c. 1723)
The Dr. John Calef House (1671) The house at 5-7 Poplar St. was the home of Dr. John Calef, the town's representative to the General Court from 1754 to 1760. A Loyalist by nature, he was one of only 17 members who voted to retract the “Massachusetts Circular Letter,” gaining him the enmity of the… Continue reading Three Old Houses at the intersection of Poplar St. and Turkey Shore
On the north side of the intersection of Lord's Square, Linebrook Rd., and High St. was a large lot known as "Brewer's Corner" in the 17th and 18th Centuries. John Brewer arrived in Ipswich with his father Thomas Brewer before 1639 as a teenager. The father eventually moved to Hampton, but John stayed and married… Continue reading The John Brewer House, 82 High St. (c. 1680)
Antiques dealer Ralph Burnham restored the house at 77 High Street in the 1930s to expose its First Period architectural elements, The original owner of this house was John Kimball, born in Rattlesden, Suffolkshire, England in 1621, who arrived in Ipswich with his parents Richard and Ursula Scott Kimball in 1634. His wife Mary was the daughter… Continue reading The John Kimball House, 77 High St. (1680)
William Goodhue, an early settler of Ipswich was granted this lot, "about half a mile above the mill." His descendant William Goodhue married Abigail Adams in 1718, and is believed to have constructed this house in 1763. A sketch of the house is portrayed in the History of the Goodhue Family. The well still exists. This… Continue reading The Goodhue-Adams House, 114 Topsfield Rd. (1763)
The private residence at 95 High Street is a well-preserved First Period half-house. The first owner, Simon Adams was born in 1652, the son of Ipswich settler William Adams and his wife Elizabeth Stacy. Simon was a veteran of King Philip's War, and by occupation he was a weaver. Captain Simon Stacey in his will… Continue reading The Simon and Hannah Adams House, 95 High St. (c. 1700)
The oldest part of the house dates to 1677 when the military officer and entrepreneur Captain John Whipple constructed a town house on Saltonstall St. near the center of Ipswich
This comprehensive tour of the Ipswich historic districts was created by town historian Gordon Harris in 2019. It begins at the Ipswich Riverwalk Mural and continues to the South Green, the East End, High Street, North Main Street, and Meeting House Green. View the full-screen interactive map of historic houses in Ipswich. Download "A Walking… Continue reading A Self-guided Tour of Historic Ipswich
This well-preserved gambrel was constructed in the mid-18th Century by John Dennis, grandson of Thomas Dennis the joiner. The house was later owned by Captain Ignatius Dodge, and is commonly called the Dennis-Dodge house.
This house is traditionally said to be the 2-story timber-frame home of cordwainer Philip Call constructed in 1659. Architectural historian Abbott Lowell Cummings believed that the left front rooms are a house that was constructed in the early 18th Century and was moved to the present location.
The main part of this house probably dates to 1723 under the ownership of Major Ammi Ruhami Wise. The house was moved in 1836 from the head of the South Green. Its asymetrical facade and heavy timbers lend credence to the early date of construction, and the northwest ell may be older.
Shoreborne Wilson, a cooper, bought this lot in 1672 and built the northwest portion of the house between 1685 and 1692. Col. Samuel Appleton acquired the house in 1702 and built the southeast portion
This house was originally on Summer St. and was moved to this location in the 19th Century.
Abner Day bought the house from the heirs of John Patch in 1814, added the large ell in the rear for an inn and tavern, which under the ownership of Capt. Samuel Day was known later as the Franklin House.
This house is believed to have originally been a modest cape on High Street. Jabez Farley sold a 40' lot to Joseph and John Wise, “laborers” in 1799, and they moved the Rindge house to the present location.
This house is one of the best representatives of the Greek Revival period in Ipswich, with doric columns supporting the portico, the entrance opening to a central stairway with light provided by a transom window and sidelights. The wood siding is shaped to emulate stone, and massive corner boards further contribute to its Greek Revival appearance.
In 1733, John Stacey was allowed to build a small house beside the rocky ledge at the lower end of the North Green. In 1834 the house was moved to its present location on Market St.
The actual date of construction is 1678-80, based on examination of the oldest beams by the Oxford Tree Ring Laboratory. The house was probably constructed by Thomas Hart's son Samuel.
Construction of the oldest part of this house has been historically attributed to John Kendrick. It acquired its present form under the ownership of the Staniford family in the 18th Century.
The east side of the house at 27 High St. is a one-room over-one-room floor plan, and may have been constructed by Edward Brown, who was allocated the lot in 1639 and died in 1659.
The east side of this house was constructed in 1711 by Col. John Wainwright, and the west side was added at the end of the 18th Century, featuring fine Georgian paneling and Rumford fireplaces. The rear ell was constructed during that time frame, but has a massive fireplace, chimney and summer beam that may date to the late 17th Century.
In 1657/8 Roger Preston sold this lot with house on it to Reginald Foster, who arrived in Ipswich in 1638 with his wife, five sons and two daughter. The existing house was once attributed to Preston, but was more likely constructed by Reginald Foster's son Jacob around the time he inherited the property from his father, who lived "to a ripe old age."
This First Period house originally stood on South Main St. In the mid-17th Century the house was owned by Dr. John Calef, who served as our representative to the General assembly, and was one of only 17 members who voted to retract the Circular Letter opposing the Townshend Acts.
This lot was assigned to early Ipswich settler John Shatswell. The two halves of the house are separately owned, and the north side is the oldest.
Captain Nathaniel Treadwell (1700 – 1777) and his wife Hannah opened the inn in 1737. John Adams stayed here frequently before the Revolution, where he wrote several letters to his wife Abigail.
The oldest part of the house may have been constructed for Deacon John Staniford and his wife Margaret. In the 20th Century this was the home of writer John Updike.
In 1962 the John Appleton House was scheduled to be demolished as a site for a service station. The Ipswich Heritage Trust formed to acquire and preserve the house. Today it is known as the Appleton Professional Building.
This private residence was traditionally a two family house, Although constructed at the end of the First Period, the house has early Georgian interior architectual elements and shows no indication of having had a central chimney.
The Caldwell house is believed to have been built as it appears today, a two-over-two-room house with a central chimney, after John Caldwell’s widow Sarah conveyed the property to their son, Dillingham Caldwell, on January 19, 1709.
Owned by the Trustees of Reservations, this house is a well-preserved example of a First Period, hall and parlor house with a saltbox lean-to.
In 1688, Deacon Thomas Knowlton deeded his house and a 2 acre lot to his nephew Nathaniel, who is believed to have constructed this house shortly thereafter.
A traditional hall and parlor First Period house, rooms inside the Thomas Lord house have large oak summer beams with wide chamfered edges, typical of houses constructed before 1680.
John Sparks was granted a license to open an inn and sell beer "at a penny a quart." The tavern became a popular stopping place on the Bay Road, where men of business would meet for food and drink. The Court met at this location, where it heard and dismissed charges of witchcraft.
The rear ell of this house is believed to date to about 1660. and was purchased by famous jointer Thomas Dennis. The 1685 deed for an abutting lot refers to the "new dwelling house" of Thomas Dennis.
Posts and beams display fine beading, and there is handsome woodwork throughout the interior, indicating construction in the 2nd quarter of the 18th Century.
Francis Jordan arrived with the settlers of Ipswich in 1634 and died in 1678. His widow and daughter's family continued to live in the house. The "messuage or tenement that was formerly Francis Jordan's deceased" was sold to John Potter in 1708.
The house at 80 East St. was built by Jacob Perkins or his son Elisha between 1690 and 1720. The cellar joists are typical of a construction style found in the 17th Century.
The lot at the corner of Green & County Streets came into the possession of Andrew Burley before 1688. His son Andrew became a wealthy merchant and representative to the General Court, and updated the house with fine Georgian features. It has been in the possession of the present owner since 1984.
In 1719, Perkins established an inn in his home "at the sign of the blue anchor," The house is the birthplace of famous Ipswich artist Arthur Wesley Dow. This house has a preservation agreement with Historic New England.
Although Baker is said to have built the present house, the structure is typical of houses built before 1720, which suggests he may remodeled the home of the Rev. John Rogers.
The house at 88 County Road was built in 1727 by Captain Thomas Wade. His son, Nathaniel Wade, at drilled the Ipswich Minute Men on the South Green across from this house. Wade was given command at West Point by Gen. Washington when Benedict Arnold joined the enemy.
One of the oldest houses in Ipswich, 103 High St. has elements of a structure built by early settler William Merchant, who arrived in Ipswich in 1639. The house was replaced or greatly enlarged after Merchant died in 1668.
Benjamin Grant married Anne Perkins in 1722, and they built the house at 47 County St. in 1735. The home was restored in the early 1980s, and was added to the Natinal Register of Historic Places.
Across from the Town Wharf is an odd-looking house where the Claxton family operated a take-out business in the early 20th Century. When clammers arrived at the wharf after a hard day's work, Joseph Claxton purchased their catch for $1.50 a barrel and sold fried clams to tourists. The Town Wharf in the early 20th Century… Continue reading The Clam Shell, 78 East Street
Historic Ipswich 