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.
Category: Houses
The Nathaniel Lord House, 73 High St, (1741-1847)
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)
The Donton-Dodge House
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 Nathaniel Hodgkins House, 48 Turkey Shore (1720)
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)
The Agawam House Hotel, 26 N. Main Street (1806)
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)
The Dr. Thomas Manning House, 19 N. Main St. (1799)
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 Smith-Gould House, 3 Summer St. (c. 1730)
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)
The Jonathan Lummus House, 45 High St. (1712)
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)
The Alexander Knight House
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 Hodgkins-Lakeman House, 76 East St. (1668 -1718)
The Dr. Joseph Manning House, 31 S. Main St. (1727)
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)
The White Horse Inn, 34 High St. (1659 / 1763)
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)
The Giddings-Burnham House, 43 Argilla Road (c. 1640-1680)
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)
The Samuel Dutch House, 69 S. Main St. (c. 1723)
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)
Three Old Houses at the intersection of Poplar St. and Turkey Shore
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
The John Brewer House, 82 High St. (c. 1680)
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)
The John Kimball House, 77 High St. (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)
The Goodhue-Adams House, 114 Topsfield Rd. (1763)
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 Simon and Hannah Adams House, 95 High St. (c. 1700)
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 Whipple House, Ipswich South Green (1677)
The John Dennis House, 10 County St. (c. 1750)
The Philip Call House, 26 High St. (1659)
The Rogers-Brown-Rust House, 83 County Rd. (1723)
The Shoreborne Wilson House, 6 S. Main St. (c. 1692)
The Richard Ringe House, 5 County St. (1718)
The Burnham-Patch-Day House, 1 Turkey Shore (1730)
The Daniel Rindge House-John Wise saddle shop, 16 Mineral St. (c.1742 /1801)
The Joseph Farley House, 2 Meeting House Green (1842)
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.
The Stacey-Ross House, 20 Market St. (1734)
The Hart House, 51 Linebrook Rd. (1678)
The Kendrick-Staniford House, 3 Hovey St. (1665-1707)
The Edward & Faith Brown House, 27 High St. (c 1650-1750)
The Wainwright-Treadwell House, 62 East St. (1726)
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.
The Reginald Foster House, 6 Water St. (c.1690-1745)
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."
The John Calef House, 7 Poplar St. (1671)
The Shatswell-Tuttle House, 90 High St. (c. 1690)
Treadwell’s Inn, 12 N. Main St. (1737)
The Polly Dole House (1687-1720)
The Foster-Grant House, 39 Summer St. (1717)
The Caldwell House, 33 High St. (c. 1709)
The Robert Paine House, 47 Jeffreys Neck Rd. (1694)
The Thomas Knowlton House, 27 Summer St. (c.1692)
The Thomas Lord House, 17 High St. (1658-1710)
The John and Mary Sparks House, Taverners, 6 N. Main St. (1671)
The Thomas Dennis House, 7 County St. (1663-1750)
The Baker-Sutton House, 115 High St. (c.1725)
The Francis Jordan House, 30 East St. (c. 1680)
The Jacob Perkins House, 80 East St. (c. 1690-1720)
The Andrew Burley House, 12 Green St. (1688)
The Capt. Matthew Perkins House, 8 East St. (1701)
The Col. John Baker House, 7 South Village Green (1761)
The Col. Nathaniel Wade House, 88 County Rd. (1727)
The William Merchant House, 103 High St. (1639/1672)
The Benjamin Grant & Anne Perkins House, 47 County St. (1735)
The Clam Shell, 78 East Street
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