First Period Walking Tour of Ipswich

25 North Main Street,Ipswich MA 01938

12 September, 2021

Description

A walking tour of First Period homes in Ipswich, led by Ipswich Town Historian Gordon Harris Join us for Early Architecture in Essex County: A Field Institute in Preserving the Past. This in-depth multi-part series will give participants a detailed look at the stories and struggles behind stewarding some of the oldest surviving dwellings in the Essex National Heritage Area. Walk the historic neighborhoods of Meeting House Green, High Street, the East End, an the South Green to see well preserved streetscapes of the 17th, 18th, and 19th century homes, including most of the town's First Period homes. This walking tour starts at the small park in front of the Ipswich Public Library on Meeting House Green, and takes 1.5 to 2 hours walking at a steady moderate pace . Gordon Harris is the town historian for Ipswich MA since 2014, and current chair of the Ipswich Historical Commission (not to be confused with the Ipswich Historical Society, now known as the Ipswich Museum.) A native of Mississippi, Gordon has lived in Massachusetts since graduating from Millsaps College in 1971, and moved to Ipswich in 2004. Although he majored in sociology, he makes his living as a carpenter, with a special interest in architectural history. In addition to leading walking and bicycle tours of Ipswich, he created and produces the Historic Ipswich website, which now receives 400,000 pageviews each year. The Field Institute is a program designed to expand the interpretive themes of the Salem Maritime and Saugus Ironworks National Historic Sites to a larger, regional scope with the Essex National Heritage Area.Please visit ESSEXHERITAGE.ORG for more information The Essex National Heritage Area, established by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1996, covers the 500 square mile region north of Boston (Essex County) and encompasses thousands of historic, cultural and natural places that were crucial in shaping our nation’s heritage.   The Essex National Heritage Commission (Essex Heritage) is the nonprofit management organization for the Area and rallies our community around saving its unique character.  We are the only organization that connects the people who live in the 34 cities and towns within our county!  We do this to achieve our mission “to preserve and enhance the historic, cultural and natural resources of Essex County.”