Did you know These facts about Ipswich?
There are many others
The Art Association made mention some time ago of marking some of the interesting spots in Ipswich. It would be nice if something was done towards preserving a record of the old local names of places in Ipswich. Some of them are still familiar, but most are still remembered only by the older generation and may soon be forgotten.
How many of these do you know? These are just a start. Do you know where Goshen is or Egypt? I don’t.
Did you know? That Pussy Cat Alley was Upper Summer Street and Lower Summer Street was the Shipyard and Clam Shell Alley was Water Street. Ninth Ward was named because of a fancied resemblance to the turbulent Ninth Ward in New York. Spring Street used to be Hog Lane. Pudding Street was upper High Street. The Plains was the Rowley Road, this side of Mile Lane. The Gallows Lot, where Pomp was hung, was on the corner of Mile Lane. Linebrook used to be called Firetown and Linebrook Road near Kimball Avenue used to be called New Boston. Pleasant Street used to be New Jerusalem and Goose Village was Topsfield Road beyond the Railroad track. Cooper’s Arch, they used to catch trout there, is the culvert on the railroad, named for old Cooper Kimball. Argilla Road near Canal Bridge used to be Hogtown and down on the Town Farm Road near Bittern Swamp, though the old folks didn’t call them bitterns, was Wadleigh’s Neck. And so on and on if somebody was interested.
There are other items that could be mentioned. Did you know? That the geographic center of Ipswich is near the corner of Jeffrey’s Neck Road and Newmarch Street? History says that the spring at the foot of Scotton’s Lane was used by the first white men who came to Ipswich. At the large sandy area in the rear of Town Hill was a large Indian Encampment and if you know where to look you can see three places where the arrowhead maker plied his trade. And there is a path leading down across the marsh by a fresh water spring on the marsh to baker’s Island a logical place to keep their canoes, so this is probably one of the oldest trails in the country. Did you know that if you stand in certain spots on Town Hill on a very clear day you can see Mount Washington?
This is only a small part of the little known facts and places around Ipswich and I am printing them in the hope that it might interest someone to delve farther into the subject.