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Photograph of James Noyes House
Photograph by User:Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

James Noyes House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. 21 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1888.

From the record

“The James Noyes House is a historic First Period house at 7 Parker Street in Newbury, Massachusetts, United States. The house was built by the Reverend James Noyes, a Puritan pastor, who settled in Newbury in the mid-17th century.”

Wikipedia article James Noyes House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 480 National Register listings published here for Essex County · listed in 1990 · category: Building.

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.
  • Listed as. Noyes, James, House - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
  • Address. 7 Parker Rd., Newbury, 01951
  • When was it listed? 1990-03-09
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR
  • Town. Newbury town
  • Architectural style. American colonial architecture
  • National Register reference number. 90000246 - 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

2,678 words

The chapter on Newbury Town in Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts, published 1922 names Newbury. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

The town of Nev/bury is situated in the extreme northeastern part of Essex county, as well as that of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It touches the sea coast and is noted for its early and later ship-building operations. In the same part of the county is found both West Newbury and the city of Newburyport. It was named from an English town derived from Burgus or borough, later reduced to "New Bourg" or "New Town" and finally to Newburg; but when it came to be written and rewritten in records, it commenced to be spelled Newbury, possibly from the fact that the letters "y" and "g", v/hen written, are similar in appearance.

Passage source: Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts, published 1922.

Prior to 1634 there resided a Rev. Thomas Parker, who taught a free school in England at New Bourg; he was the only son of a Rev. Robert Parker, of whom it was said by Cotton Mather that "he was one of the greatest scholars in England." Rev. Thomas Parker, the son, came to the shores of New England in the month of May, 1634, with a company numbering about one hundred persons, who first went to Ipswich, then styled Agawam, to locate. After passing the winter in Ipswich, it was discovered that there were so many people there that the company swarmed out to other parts to the eastward. Thus it came about that Rev. Parker and many of his English friends settled at what is now Newbury. For all practical purposes, the date of this settlement may well be fixed as in May, 1635, a year after the party of emigrants arrived from England. They v/ent by water through Plum Island Sound and thence up the river, to which they gave the name of their honored leader. Their landing place was not far from the bridge later constructed, and on the north side of the river. About forty persons made up this colony that first braved the "Wild New England Shore." The list is as follows : Thomas Parker, James Noyes and wife, John Woodbridge, Henry Sewall and servants, James Browne and wife, Francis Plumer and wife, Nich- olas Easton and wife, John Easton, William Moody and wife and four sons, Anthony Short, Henry Short and wife, John Spencer, Richard Kent, Sr. and wife, Richard Kent, Jr., Stephen Kent and wife, James Kent, Nicholas Noyes, Thomas Browne, Richard Browne, George Brown, Thomas Coleman, Joseph Plumer and Samuel Plumer. Others soon joined this band, including Richard Dummer and John and Richard Pike, also John Emery, and soon after they had settled (probably in June or July, 1635), the first church was organized. Mr. Parker preached his first sermon in the open air, under the shade of a huge oak tree 'more than a century old, that stood a hundred yards below the Rowley bridge of later days.

Passage source: Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts, published 1922.

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 Newbury Town - 2,678 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

70 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 70 fires within 5 miles of James Noyes House between 2007 and 2020, burning about 30 acres in total. None started naturally. 8 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 burning17
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Equipment and vehicle use8
Arson/incendiarism8
Recreation and ceremony7
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Smoking5
Fireworks5
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Other causes1

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
3 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreParker River National Wildlife RefugeSALT PANNES
23 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 September 2017Fireworksunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
1 September 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 August 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 August 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlSALISBURY
5 August 2016Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlSAILSBURY
27 August 2016Other causesunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEWBURY

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 2,392 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 2,392 specimens collected within 10 miles of James Noyes House between 1800 and 1975: 1,433 Plantae, 665 Animalia, 190 Fungi, 91 Chromista, 7 Unrecorded, 4 Protozoa, 2 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A A Eaton, A Brown, 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 SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Hypnum curvifolium Hedw.Hypnum curvifolium Hedw.1900John W. Huntington
Specimen of Plagiotheciella latebricola (Schimp.) M.Fleisch.Plagiotheciella latebricola (Schimp.) M.Fleisch.1900John W. Huntington
A photograph of the species Rhodobryum roseum, not of this specimenRhodobryum roseum (Hedw.) Limpr.1800J. W. HuntingtonAmesbury
A photograph of the species Dichelyma capillaceum, not of this specimenDichelyma capillaceum (Dicks.) Myrin1833J. W. Huntington
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 2,392 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of James Noyes House: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Lead, Silver, Zinc, Copper, Gold, Silver, 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Chipman MineLead, Zinc, Copper, Gold, SilverPast Producer
Newburyport Pb-A?^IctLead, SilverPast Producer
Rowley Ready Mix Inc.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Essex County

Maps showing this location

21 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

From the nomination file

1,440 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 - 1,440 words, 12 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 90000246, 12 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
Newbury Historic Districtunder 500 feet1976
Spencer-Pierce-Little House0.5 miles1968
Superior Courthouse and Bartlett Mall0.6 miles1976
Benjamin Coker House0.7 miles1990
Caleb Cushing House0.7 miles1973
Dalton House0.9 miles1978

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 90000246 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Essex CountyAll 480 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.