Abby Epplett, Historian

During my trips to the North Shore several weeks ago, I visited many historic sites and took plenty of hikes. One of my stops was at Cedar Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Wenham, MA. The scenic walking area is 158 acres (0.64 km sq) in size and is managed by Mass Audubon along with belonging to the Eastern Essex County Interior Forest Important Bird Area. Besides beautiful scenery and accessible pathways, the grounds contain the ruins of a mansion whose presence is more mysterious that it first seems.

Right after my walk at Hamlin Reservation, I went to another site maintained by The Trustees of Reservations, Greenwood Farm in Ipswich, MA. The 216-acre property contains a short, g-shaped walking trail and a pair of historic houses, which won the 1998 and 2001 Mary P. Conley Preservation Awards given by Ipswich Historical Commission . While the site does not include much information about the three “dynasties” who lived on the property, these people are by far the most interesting part of the story.

During one of my trips to the North Shore in Massachusetts, I visited Hamlin Reservation in Ipswich, which is currently managed by The Trustees of Reservations . This one-mile walking path through the Great Marsh allows some sharp-eyed visitors to see birds that only live in this part of the state , including cattle egrets, snowy egrets, and black-ground night-herons. While I only saw a few crows, the quiet walk was a relaxing rest after running around the center of town, and the land turned out to have a connection to national history.

This post comes a day earlier than usual, as Friday is American Independence Day, colloquially known as “the Fourth of July”. This is the fourth and final post in my miniseries of quick history stops in Ipswich. For a quick history review, I shared a pair of banks, a post office, murals on a factory building, and a story from the Industrial Revolution in Part 1 . I shared the Riverwalk, a war memorial, the town visitor center, a commercial block, and other historic buildings in Part 2 . I shared the history of three churches, a school building, the library, and informational signage in Part 3. Now I will finish up with several war memorials, an art installation, a very old bridge, public buildings, and a church with interesting tangents in its backstory.

Today, I continue with my miniseries on quick history stops in Ipswich, MA. As a quick history review, last week I shared a pair of banks, a post office, murals on a factory building, and a story from the Industrial Revolution in Part 1 . On Monday, I shared the Riverwalk, a war memorial, the town visitor center, a commercial block, and other historic buildings in Part 2 . I will discuss the history of three churches, a school building, the library, and informational signage in Part 3.

Earlier this year, I visited many historic places along the North Shore in Essex County, Massachusetts. I found so many quick history stops in Ipswich, MA that I have turned this adventure into a four-part miniseries. Part 1 covered a pair of banks, a post office, murals on a factory building, and a story from the Industrial Revolution. Part 2 will focus on the Riverwalk, a war memorial, the town visitor center, a commercial block, and other historic buildings.

During my trips to the North Shore earlier this year, I spent time walking around Ipswich, MA. I really outdid myself with picture-taking in this colonial-era town, and accordingly will present a four-part miniseries of quick history stops. Special thanks to my sister who lives locally and tolerated me finding local history in everything. For the first part, I will share a pair of banks, a post office, murals on a factory building, and a story from the Industrial Revolution.

During my trips to the North Shore earlier this year, I twice visited a group of cemeteries in Ipswich, MA . This cemetery opened in 1634, a year after the town was founded in 1633, and is operational to this day. The oldest parts of the cemetery, located near High Street where on-street parking is available, is called Old Burying Ground or Old North Cemetery, while other sections were Highland and New Highland Cemetery. This entire area is part of High Street Historic District, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Like the High Street of many post-medieval towns (as last described in my Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical essay “Places: Bywater” , which referenced the original Ipswich in England) this was the main road until Central Street was built in 1871, or 238 years after High Street.

When I visited Topsfield Town Common District, part of the National Register of Historic Places , I found so many quick history stops that I divided them into three posts: the first on Monday , the second on Wednesday , and the third today. This final post describes the history of the former Methodist church and parsonage, the war memorials, the library, and public art. Once again, I found the book Houses and Buildings of Topsfield, Massachusetts to be helpful in my research.

During my visits to the North Shore several weeks ago, I found a multitude of quick history stops in the Topsfield Town Common District, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 . My first post described several homes, the Catholic church, the former train station, and the post office. This post will focus on the school, town hall, and the Protestant churches. Just like in my last post, I found the book Houses and Buildings of Topsfield, Massachusetts to be helpful in my research.

After visiting the Trustee’s Appleton Farms , South Hamilton , and Wenham , I finished up my day with a walk around Topsfield. I visited Topsfield two more times within a six-week period, and I took so many pictures of the buildings and monuments that I am turning these quick history stops into a three-part miniseries. Many buildings along Main Street are part of the Topsfield Town Common District, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 .

After hiking at The Trustee’s Appleton Farms in Hamilton and the historic district in South Hamilton , I stopped in neighboring Wenham to visit its own historic district, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973 . While the Wenham Museum was not open, I took plenty of beautiful pictures of the town common, the church, a pair of war memorials, and the town hall.

During two of my trips to the North Shore, I visited South Hamilton, MA. The town historic district is on Bay Road , originally known as Country Road when it was established in 1640 and now also called Route 1A as the first state highway established in Massachusetts. During these quick history stops, I saw a church, a cemetery, historic houses, a mysterious road, and a special sign. This quiet town was a great place to take a relaxing walk, along with many pictures.

Every year, The Trustees of Reservations hosts winter holiday celebrations called Winterlights, where several properties are brightly lit for visitors to walk through a night. This past December, I visited the Winterlights at Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens in North Andover, MA. This ninety-one acre (0.37 km sq) estate was once the summer home of Helen Granger Stevens Coolidge , which she shared with her well-connected diplomat husband, John Gardner Coolidge .

In early November 2024, I took a trip to Hudson, MA, which I had last visited in April . I made a few quick history stops mostly involving the Assabet River Nature Trail, which was created in 1995, along with Assabet River Rail Trail (ARRT) . Plenty of public art was installed along the trail, while other fun sights included a caboose and interesting architecture.

In early November 2024, I visited Bigelow Hollow State Park in Union, CT , a tiny town of 785 people located in The Last Green Valley , a national heritage corridor. Much like Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Essex National Heritage Area , both of which appear frequently on this blog, The Last Green Valley is a member of the Alliance of National Heritage Areas (ANHA) , which preserves ecological and historical sites across the United States. The Connecticut area is unique for having the only dark nighttime skies on the East Coast between Boston, MA and Washington, DC, since eighty-four percent of the land is farms and forests. Bigelow Hollow makes up 516 acres (2.09 sq km) of those rural lands.

After visiting the Major Taylor Museum on my birthday trip, I took a pair of walks in nearby Marlborough, MA. Lake Williams Boardwalk completed a recreational trail with a floating walkway, while The Grove Conservation Land was a forested area beside Fort Meadow Reservoir, which borders both Marlborough and Hudson. This was a relaxing way to spend a warm and sunny day.

On the same day I made quick history stops in Petersham, MA , I visited Quabbin Reservoir and the conservation site Bear’s Den , which is managed by the Trustees of Reservations. These quiet walks allow visitors to enjoy nature while offering glimpses of the industrial past.

In September 2024, I visited places and attended programs in Essex National Heritage Area as part of its annual event Trails & Sails . During my trip, I hiked on several trails in the area, most of which were maintained either by Greenbelt, which is Essex County’s land trust, or by The Trustees of Reservations, a non-profit organization in Massachusetts.

In September 2024, I visited places and attended programs in Essex National Heritage Area as part of its annual event Trails & Sails . On my second day, I took quick history stops in Danvers and Beverly, MA between visits to Hospital Point Lighthouse ; Historic Beverly’s Cabot House , Balch House , and Hale Farm ; and Central Cemetery in Beverly . I visited the typical historic homes, parks, churches, and public buildings along with a stop at the oldest fruit tree in the United States.