Ipswich Historical Society

The Benjamin Grant House is a historic house at 47 County Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts. It is a well-preserved early Georgian house, built c. 1735 by Benjamin Grant. He was killed in the French and Indian War, and the house subsequently came into the hands of the Ross family, who owned it well into the 20th century. The house is a 2+1⁄2-story colonial with a central chimney. The front portion of the house consists of two rooms, one on either side of the chimney, behind which is a single-story leanto addition. The interior of the house has remained well preserved, showing numerous Georgian details.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and is subject to a local preservation restriction.

The John Whipple House is a historic colonial house at 1 South Green in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Built in the seventeenth century, the house has been open to the public as a museum since 1899 and was the subject of some of the earliest attempts at the preservation of colonial houses. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, one of the earliest properties to receive that honor.

The South Green Historic District encompasses one of the oldest central civic parts of Ipswich, Massachusetts. The town's South Green was laid out in 1686, and is now the heart of a collection of historic properties dating from the 17th to the 19th century. The centerpiece of the district is the green itself, and its most notable associated property is the John Whipple House, a National Historic Landmark and museum. The district boundaries extend from the junction of South Main and Elm Streets, southward past the green to where County Road (Massachusetts Route 1A) crosses Saltonstall's Creek.Ipswich voted to establish the South Green in 1686, after which it was used as a common grazing area, and as a training ground for the local militia. It was also the site of Ipswich's earliest school buildings, which even predated the establishment of the green as a common area. The first schoolhouse was built in the area in 1652; it was moved to the Meetinghouse Green in 1704, at which time private education continued in the area. A public school was again introduced to the South Green area in 1794, which became the English High School from 1836 to 1874.Most of the surviving structures in the district are houses. The oldest is the c. 1653 Whipple House, which was moved to the area in the 1930s. The green is flanked by buildings dating through the 19th century, in a variety of styles. The predominant styles are Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival, although there are several later Victorian properties. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The Dr. John Calef House is a historic house at 7 Poplar Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts. It is a well-preserved example of a First Period house with high-quality Georgian modifications. The core of the house was built c. 1671 by Deacon Thomas Knowlton, who purchased the land on which it originally stood on South Main Street in that year. It was subsequently altered in the middle of the 18th century, acquiring its present Georgian styling. In the 1770s the house was owned by noted Loyalist John Caleff. It was acquired in 1777 by John Heard, who moved the house to its present location in order to build a more elaborate Federalist house on the site.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The Shoreborne Wilson House is a historic colonial house at 4 South Main Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was built between 1685 and 1692 by Shoreborne Wilson, a cooper. It has a basic four-room center chimney plan, of which Wilson built the northwest section. The house was acquired by Captain Samuel Appleton in 1702, who likely built the southeast section. In the following years the house went through a variety of uses. It underwent a restoration of sorts in the 1920s, in which fireplaces and trim details were replaced.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The Heard-Lakeman House is a historic house at 2 Turkey Shore Road in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Nathaniel and John Heard built this 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house in 1776 for Nathaniel to live in. He sold it in 1795 to Richard Lakeman III, member of a seafaring family. The house is notable for an extremely large chimney with an arched foundation over 11 feet (3.4 m) long, which supports two large fireplaces. The building was a notable object of restoration during the Colonial Revival in the 1920s.The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and is subject to local preservation restrictions.

Choate Bridge (1764) is a historic stone arch bridge carrying Route 1A/Route 133 (South Main Street) over the Ipswich River in Ipswich, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest surviving bridges in North America, and is probably the oldest in Massachusetts. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and also has been designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

The Burnham-Patch House is a historic house at 1 Turkey Shore Road in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story Colonial stands on a plot of land purchased by Thomas Burnham in 1667, occupying a prominent position on Turkey Shore Road, a historically important path to the coast. The house itself appears to have been built around 1730, with evidence that some of its beams were reused from an older, 17th century, structure. Its irregular interior floorplan suggests that it may have been built following the old house's floorplan. The property remained in the Burnham family until 1795, when it was sold to Colonel John Patch, a leading local figure in the American Revolutionary War. In 1814 the house was purchased by Abner Day, who operated a tavern on the premises for many years.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It is under a local preservation restriction.

Ipswich is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Ipswich in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,222 at the 2010 census.

Ipswich Female Seminary was an American female seminary in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The institution was an early school for the secondary and tertiary-level education of young women. Enrollment averaged 116 students. According to Academy records, 88 of the school's graduates went on to teach as educational missionaries in the western and southern United States.

The Caldwell Block is a historic block on S. Main Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts. It is the oldest surviving building in Ipswich that was designed as a commercial and retail space, and is still used for that purpose. It is located prominently in the center of Ipswich, at the junction of North and South Main Streets, and Central and Market Streets. It was built in 1870 by Luther Caldwell, on the site of an old woolen mill that was destroyed by fire a few years earlier, and features Italianate styling. The building has always housed retail stores on the ground floor and office space above. It is notable as the location of the offices of writer John Updike between 1961 and 1974, when he wrote many of his works there.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The Ipswich Mills Historic District encompasses a major textile mill complex and associated worker housing along the Ipswich River near the center of Ipswich, Massachusetts. The district includes the factories of the Ipswich Mill Company (off Union and Estes Streets), and several blocks of modest worker cottages mostly on side streets off Estes and Kimball Streets. The site had been used as for mills since the 17th century, and was purchased by the Ipswich Mill Company (owned by textile magnate Amos Adams Lawrence) in 1868. Mill worker housing was built surrounding the complex through the early 20th century, when River Court, Peatfield Street, and 1st through 6th Streets were laid out. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.