tales of olde Ipswich 

In the early days of Ipswich when travel was limited, there were many houses and inns where one could find a night's lodging.

In the days of stagecoaches, there were several inns along the old Bay Road and High Street. These inns also provided stables in which to house the horses.

The Patch home on High Street was known as the White Horse Tavern. The Tucker home on the corner of Poplar Street and County Road was known as the Swasey Tavern. It was here that General Washington stopped and had lunch in 1789.

Those were the early taverns, but one of the later hotels was the Agawam House on North Main Street. In 1806 Nathaniel Treadwell bought land and a house and started his tavern business. He later sold it to Moses Treadwell in 1819. One of his most distinguished guests was General LaFayette, who was entertained and lunched there on Aug. 3, 1824 and later in the day journeyed to Newburyport, according to Waters' history.

Since that time there have been many owners. The last before it ceased to be a hotel was a Mr. Southwick. The stable, although not a part of the hotel, was convenient for the guests to hire or put up their own animals for the night.

At one time, this was a first-rate hotel and many prominent persons stopped here. I was a young boy when it closed its doors as a hotel, but I can still remember its last years of life. It was later sold and a Mr. Beaulieu renovated it into an apartment building.

Then it was sold to Mr. Lampson, and extensive renovations were made at that time. The greatest change was the removing of the piazzas on the front and adding rooms.

Today, hardly recognizable as the old Agawam Hotel, it is a modern apartment building.

- HAROLD D. BOWEN