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Photograph of Howe Barn
Photograph by Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Howe Barn

Built in 1750 in the First Period. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“The Howe Barn is a historic barn, that has been converted into a house, in Ipswich, Massachusetts, United States. It is important as one of a small number of surviving First Period barn frames in Essex County.”

Wikipedia article Howe Barn, CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 350 National Register listings in Essex County · listed in 1990 · category: Building · built in 1750, First Period · one of 2 National Historic Landmarks in Essex County.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 403 Linebrook Rd., Ipswich, 01938
  • When was it listed? 1990-03-09
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR
  • Township. Ipswich town
  • When was it built? 1750
  • Architectural style. First Period, colonial architecture
  • National Register reference number. 90000230 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

396 words

The chapter on Ipswich Town in Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony .., published 1905 names Ipswich. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

I have tried to tell, accurately but in readable fashion, the story of the builders of our Town: their homes and home life, their employments, their Sabbath keeping, their love of learning, their administration of Town affairs, their stern delusions, and their heroism, in War and in resistance to Tyranny. The seventeenth century was a brilliant and thrilling period in Ipswich history, and it seemed best to me to consider it somewhat at length, and to close my historical study with the end of that century rather than to attempt a briefer summary of the complete history of the Town. If this work finds favor, I shall begin at once to gather material for another volume, in which the historical and topographical studies will be carried on to completion.

Passage source: Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony .., published 1905.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Ipswich Town - 396 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

68 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 68 fires within 5 miles of Howe Barn between 2015 and 2020, burning about 46 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 10 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.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning21
Recreation and ceremony10
Equipment and vehicle use10
Arson/incendiarism10
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Smoking5
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Natural1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
7 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
18 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
13 September 2020Smoking1.2 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
7 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlTOPSFIELD
28 August 2016Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlIPSWICH
25 August 2017Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 August 2016Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlIPSWICH

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 3,238 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 3,238 specimens collected within 10 miles of Howe Barn between 1800 and 1975: 1,429 Plantae, 1,066 Animalia, 640 Fungi, 46 Unrecorded, 34 Chromista, 13 Protozoa, 10 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A Brown, A. A. Eaton, A. A. Eaton; R. G. Leavitt 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 SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
A photograph of the species Rhodocollybia prolixa, not of this specimenRhodocollybia prolixa var. distorta (Fr.) AntonĂ­n, Halling & Noordel.1800R. B. MackintoshPeabody
A photograph of the species Brasenia schreberi, not of this specimenBrasenia schreberi J.F.Gmel.1821not recordedPleasant Pond, Wenham, Mass.
A photograph of the species Diphyscium foliosum, not of this specimenDiphyscium foliosum (Hedw.) D.Mohr1822ALCOTT
A photograph of the species Arcyria oerstedii, not of this specimenArcyria oerstedii Rostaf., 18751826F. A. Gilbert
A photograph of the species Dumetella carolinensis, not of this specimenDumetella carolinensis (Linnaeus, 1766)1833J.S. AppletonWest Newbury
A photograph of the species Glyceria obtusa, not of this specimenGlyceria obtusa (Muhl.) Trin.1838W Oakes
A photograph of the species Clethra alnifolia, not of this specimenClethra alnifolia L.1840OakesHerbariumRowley
A photograph of the species Euphorbia polygonifolia, not of this specimenEuphorbia polygonifolia L.1840Wolle, J.Ipswich
A photograph of the species Iva frutescens, not of this specimenIva frutescens L.1840Oakesad Ipswich
A photograph of the species Potentilla anserina, not of this specimenPotentilla anserina L.1840Wolle, J.Ipswich
A photograph of the species Sisymbrium officinale, not of this specimenSisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop.1840OakesIpswich
A photograph of the species Dasya C.Agardh, not of this specimenDasya C.Agardh, 18241842Collector unknownLittle River near Old Town, 6 miles from the sea

All 3,238 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Howe Barn: 7 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Sulfur, Iron. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Georgetown MineIronPast Producer
Harriman MineSulfurPast Producer
Goodhue PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Ipswich PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Miles River Sand and Gravel CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
R W DrinkwaterSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
R W Drinkwater IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Rowley Ready Mix Inc.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Topseal PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Essex County

Storms near this property

18 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ipswich, the town this property stands in, 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2014Thunderstorm WindIpswich$100,000Over 100 trees were downed, snapped, or lost large limbs. This included hardwood and softwood trees such as oaks and pines. Power was out for a majority of the town since many utility lines were brought down. Damage from this microburst began at Mile Lane and Linebrook Road where tops of a large pine tree and oak tree were snapped off and ended on Argilla Road where large tree limbs and power lines were downed.||The most significant damage was on Topsfield Road where a large pine tree was downed and multiple utility lines were downed, including a transformer. Damage was also significant on South Main Street at County Road where large oak trees had limbs snapped off and numerous power and utility lines were downed. On Waldingfield Road, a large tree and limbs were downed onto the commuter rail tracks, resulting in delays until the debris could be cleared.
June 2005LightningIpswich$50,000no account filed
May 2015Thunderstorm WindIpswich$30,000Trees, wires, and four telephone poles were blown down on Nabby's Point Road in Ipswich. A large limb was downed onto Broadway Avenue. A tree was downed onto the MBTA tracks for the Newburyport commuter rail line.
June 2005LightningIpswich$20,000no account filed
June 2019LightningIpswich$15,000At 1:45 PM EST, a house on Country Club Way in Ipswich was reported on fire due to a lightning strike.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindIpswich$10,000no account filed
June 2018Thunderstorm WindIpswich$5,000At 5:55 PM EST several trees were down on Waldingfield Road in Hamilton.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindIpswich$5,000no account filed
May 2017Thunderstorm WindIpswich$1,000At 945 PM EST, a tree was reported down on County Road near River Bend.
July 2015Funnel CloudIpswich-A funnel cloud was spotted looking north towards Newbury.
June 2007HailIpswich-Penny size hail.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindIpswich-Part of a metal chimney blown off a house and onto Route 1.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindIpswich-Tree down on 25th Street.
June 1998Flash FloodIpswich-Ipswich River
June 2010HailIpswich-no account filed
June 2010HailIpswich-no account filed
October 1996Flash FloodIpswich-no account filed
October 1996Flash FloodIpswich-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Essex County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

From the nomination file

1,134 words on record

When this property was proposed for the National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is, and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain. It is reproduced in full on its own page, word for word and never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s typewriter's.

The whole case file for this property - 1,134 words, 8 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 90000230, 8 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Harding, Sarah H., House0.9 miles1982
Foster, Stephen, House1.2 miles1990
Abbot Tavern1.3 miles1982
Agawan Diner2.3 miles1999
French--Andrews House2.4 miles1990
Spofford-Barnes House2.6 miles1974

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 90000230 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Essex CountyAll 350 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • 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.