Ipswich

History

Ipswich was inhabited for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas. The Bull Brook archaeological site in Ipswich provided among the oldest signs of human habitation in New England, dated to between 9000 and 11,000 years before present. Later stone tools and shell mounds found in Ipswich attest to continued human occupation in Ipswich in the intervening 10,000 years. The English settlement of Ipswich was founded by John Winthrop the Younger, son of John Winthrop, one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 and its first governor, elected in England in 1629. Several hundred colonists sailed from England in 1630 in a fleet of 11 ships, including Winthrop's flagship, the Arbella. Investigating the region of Salem and Cape Ann, they entertained aboard the Arbella for a day, June 12, 1630, a native chief of the lands to the north, Chief Masconomet. The event was recorded in Winthrop's journal on the 13th, but Winthrop did not say how they overcame the language barrier. The name they heard from Masconomet concerning the country over which he ruled has been reconstructed as Wonnesquamsauke, which the English rendered as "Agawam". The colonists, however, sailed to the south where some buildings had already been prepared for them at a place newly named Charlestown. That winter they lost a few hundred colonists to malnutrition and disease. They also experienced their first nor'easter, which cost them some fingers and toes, as well as houses destroyed by the fires they kept burning day and night. Just as Winthrop was handing out the last handful of grain, the supply ship Lyon entered Boston Harbor. John sent for his family in England, but his then wife, Margaret, her children, and his eldest son, John, whose mother was the elder John's…

Geography

Ipswich is drained by the Ipswich River and Plum Island Sound, which join at their mouths and empty through a narrow but navigable channel at the foot of Castle Hill around Sandy Point into Ipswich Bay adjoining the Atlantic Ocean. The crane estate has a long lawn that overlooks the bay and often has castle hill concerts. The southern part of Plum Island falls within the area allotted to the town, making up the town's ocean shore along with Castle Neck, south of the Sound. The northeastern part of town is marshy, where the Rowley River, Roger Island River, and Eagle Hill River drain into Plum Island Sound. South of Castle Neck, the Castle Neck River separates the town from neighboring Essex. Much of the western end of town is dominated by Willowdale State Forest, and other parts of the town are also protected land, including Crane Wildlife Refuge on Castle Neck, the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and Sandy Point State Reservation on Plum Island, Hamlin Reservation, Heartbreak Hill Reservation, Bull Brook Reservoir, Greenwood Farm, and part of Appleton Farms Sanctuary, which extends into Hamilton. Ipswich is in central Essex County and is south of Newburyport, northwest of Gloucester, north of Salem, east of Lawrence, and northeast of Boston. It is bordered by Rowley to the north, Boxford to the west, and Topsfield, Hamilton, Essex and Gloucester to the south. (The border with Gloucester lies across Essex Bay, and as such there is no land connection between the two.)

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  56,440
• American herring gull, Smithsonian Gull

  Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 · Aves
  56,246
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  52,966
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  51,383
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  49,737
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  48,657
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  47,029
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  45,484

Largest nearby schools

• Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School
  High · Hathorne · 1,694 students · 11.2:1 ratio
• Beverly Middle School
  Middle · Beverly · 1,367 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• Beverly High
  High · Beverly · 1,286 students · 12.5:1 ratio
• Masconomet Regional High School
  High · Boxford · 990 students · 12.1:1 ratio
• Gloucester High
  High · Gloucester · 804 students · 10.3:1 ratio
• Danvers High
  High · Danvers · 777 students · 10.5:1 ratio
• Holten Richmond Middle School
  Middle · Danvers · 772 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• Penn Brook
  Elementary · Georgetown · 703 students · 16.3:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2025-01-27
  9 km SE of York Harbor, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2023-12-23
  5 km SW of Chichester, New Hampshire
• M 2.6 — 2021-12-07
  38 km SE of Old Orchard Beach, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire
• M 2.61 — 2013-10-11
  New Hampshire
• M 3.15 — 2010-09-26
  2 km SW of Canterbury, New Hampshire