Ipswich, Massachusetts

The same ground, surveyed 109 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

1888 1997

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 12 of 31 shown

• Great HouseNational Historic Landmark · listed 1977
• John Whipple HouseNational Historic Landmark · listed 1966
• Bailey Houselisted 1980
• Brown Stocking Mill Historic Districtlisted 1996
• Brown's Manorlisted 1980
• James Burnham Houselisted 1990
• Burnham-Patch Houselisted 1980
• Benjamin Stickney Cable Memorial Hospitallisted 1990
• Caldwell Blocklisted 1983
• Dr. John Calef Houselisted 1980
• Choate Bridgelisted 1972
• East End Historic Districtlisted 1980

Every listing in Essex County

Surveyed buildings and structures 12 of 19 shown

• 40 North Main Street (House), Ipswichfederal building survey, 2 photographs
• Choate Bridge, Ipswichfederal building survey, 2 photographs
• Choate Bridge, Spanning Ipswich River at South Main Street, Ipswichfederal building survey, 19 photographs
• Clam Box Restaurant, High Street & Mile Lane (Route 1-A), Ipswichfederal building survey, 3 photographs
• Colonel Nathaniel Wade House, Ipswichfederal building survey, 2 photographs
• Congregational Parsonage Fencepost, 19 North Main Street, Ipswichfederal building survey, 2 photographs
• Dr. Philemon Dane Fence, 41 South Main Street, Ipswichfederal building survey, 3 photographs
• Howard-Emerson House, Turkey Shore Road, Ipswichfederal building survey, 3 photographs
• John Heard Estate, State Route 1A, Ipswichfederal building survey, 3 photographs
• John Kimball House, 75 High Street, Ipswichfederal building survey, 10 photographs
• John Whipple House, 53 South Main Street, Ipswichfederal building survey, 1 photograph
• Morton-Corbett House, 8 East Street, Ipswichfederal building survey, 3 photographs

Every surveyed structure in Essex County

Businesses named in the fire insurance atlases 12 records

• Agawam HotelHotel, in the atlas of 1887 to 1902
• Brown, G. B., Grist MillMill, in the atlas of 1892 to 1907
• Episcopal ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1892 to 1907
• Farley & Daniels, Shoe ShopShop, in the atlas of 1887 to 1897
• Catholic ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1892 to 1907
• Upper MillsMill, in the atlas of 1892 to 1902
• Ascension Memorial ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1907
• Congregational ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1892
• Eastern International Hotel, 4Hotel, in the atlas of 1887
• Grammar SchoolSchool, in the atlas of 1907
• Lower MillMill, in the atlas of 1897
• Manning SchoolSchool, in the atlas of 1892

Ipswich grew from 4,222 to 4,370 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

• 1888 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500
• 1893 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500, 11 printings
• 1917 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500
• 1919 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
• 1943 USGS Cape Ann quadrangle1:125000
• 1945 USGS Ipswich quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
• 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
• 1950 USGS Ipswich quadrangle1:31680
• 1950 USGS Ipswich quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
• 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
• 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
• 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
• 1966 USGS Ipswich quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
• 1966 USGS Ipswich quadrangle1:25000
• 1984 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:100000
• 1985 USGS Ipswich quadrangle1:25000, 3 printings
• 1997 USGS Ipswich quadrangle1:25000

History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1888 names this settlement in its chapter on Ipswich Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 41 fires within 5 miles of Ipswich between 2015 and 2020, burning about 32 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 3 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

• Aqawam (historical)
• Essex
• Essex Falls
• Hamilton
• Little Neck
• Nancys Corner

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 4,556 specimens collected within 10 miles of Ipswich between 1821 and 1975: 1,817 Plantae, 1,177 Fungi, 1,140 Animalia, 157 Chromista, 151 Unrecorded, 90 Protozoa, 24 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A H HIGGINSON, A Perlmutter, A. A. Eaton and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image	Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
	Brasenia schreberi J.F.Gmel.	1821	not recorded	Pleasant Pond, Wenham, Mass.
	Diphyscium foliosum (Hedw.) D.Mohr	1822	ALCOTT
	Arcyria oerstedii Rostaf., 1875	1826	F. A. Gilbert
	Glyceria obtusa (Muhl.) Trin.	1838	W Oakes
	Lecanora tartarea (L.) Ach.	1839	E. Tuckerman	Manchester
	Ochrolechia yasudae Vainio	1839	Tuckerman, E.	[USA] Manchester, Massachusetts.
	Clethra alnifolia L.	1840	OakesHerbarium	Rowley
	Euphorbia polygonifolia L.	1840	Wolle, J.	Ipswich
	Iva frutescens L.	1840	Oakes	ad Ipswich
	Potentilla anserina L.	1840	Wolle, J.	Ipswich
	Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop.	1840	Oakes	Ipswich
	Dasya C.Agardh, 1824	1842	Collector unknown	Little River near Old Town, 6 miles from the sea

All 4,556 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Ipswich: 5 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Every working recorded in Essex County

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ipswich in 18 storm reports between 1996 and 2019: 8 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 3 lightning, 3 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

Every storm recorded in Essex County

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 614554. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.