Amesbury is a city in

Essex County, Massachusetts Essex County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the total population was 809,829, making it the third-most populous county in the state, and the eightieth-most populous in the countr ...

, United States, located on the left bank of the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Mas ...

near its mouth, upstream from

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

and across the river from

Newburyport Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...

and West Newbury. The

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

was 17,366 at the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

. A former farming and mill town, Amesbury is today largely residential. It is one of the two northernmost towns in Massachusetts (the other being neighboring

History

Settlement period

In 1637, the first English settler in the Salisbury-Amesbury region, John Bayly, crossed the

from the new settlement at Newbury, built a log cabin, and began to clear the land for cultivation. He intended to send for his wife and children in England, but they never joined him.. He and his hired man, William Schooler, were arrested for a murder Schooler had committed. Schooler was hanged for the murder but Bayly was acquitted. Given the fishing rights on the river by the subsequent settlement, provided he would sell only to it, he abandoned agriculture for fishing. On September 6, 1638, the General Court of Massachusetts created a plantation on behalf of several petitioners from Newbury, on the left bank of the Merrimack, as far north as Hampton, to be called Merrimac.. They were given permission to associate together as a township. The area remained in possession of the tribes along the Merrimack, who hunted and fished there. The settlers of the plantation, who entered Massachusetts Bay Colony, were rebels in a cause that was settled by the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

(1642–1651). Although nominally subjects of the crown, they did not obey it. The settlers maintained close ties with the Parliamentary cause in Britain. The supreme government of the colony was the General Court, which functioned autonomously, passing its own laws, establishing courts, incorporating townships and providing for the overall defense of the colony. They established a Puritan church rather than the Church of England. In the early spring of 1639, approximately 60 planters took up residence on land cleared by the natives. In May, an elected planning committee laid out the green, the initial streets, the burial ground, and the first division into lots, apportioning the size of a lot to the wealth of the settler. In November, the General Court appointed a government of six, which required that every lot owner take up residence on his lot. They began to assign lots west of the Pow-wow river. The town was originally named Colchester, but was renamed Salisbury in October 1640, potentially at the suggestion of Christopher Batt, from

, England. Batt trained the militia in the town. The incorporation of the town granted it legal recognition by the colony to a township of that name, with its own government, empowered by citizens populating a territory of legally defined boundaries. The original Salisbury was many times larger than the present. From it several townships were later separated. On January 12, 1641, a town meeting ordered the first roads north and west of the Pow-wow River to be built.. On April 21, another meeting granted William Osgood 50 acres of "upland" and 10 of "meadow" along the Pow-wow River, provided he build a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

for the town to use. It utilized a water wheel driven by the Pow-wow River. The mill produced lumber for local use and pipe-staves for export. A

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

was added to the Pow-wow river location in 1642.. The Powwow River provided water power for a subsequent mill complex. In 1642, the town wanted families to take up residence west of the Pow-wow and form a "New Town." No volunteers responded. In 1643, the General Court divided Massachusetts Bay Colony into four counties: Essex, Norfolk, Middlesex and Suffolk.. Norfolk contained Salisbury, Hampton, Haverhill, Exeter, Dover, and Strawberry Bank (Portsmouth). This division was a legal convenience based on the distribution of courts. Since the first establishment of four courts on March 3, 1635, the General Court had found it necessary to multiply and distribute courts, so that the magistrates would not spend time in travel that they needed for settling case loads. The main requirement for membership in a shire was incorporation.. Private occupation of the west bank of the Pow-wow River went on as East Salisbury citizens sold their property and moved to New Town.. However, New Town remained a paper construct without enforcement. On January 14, 1654, articles of agreement adopted at town meeting divided Salisbury into Old Town and New Town, each to conduct its own affairs. The border was the Pow-wow. The agreement went into effect on January 19, 1655. In New Town, a new government was voted in, which claimed authority over "all matters of publicke concernment." They still paid taxes to Old Town and expected services from it. The board of Old Town contained some members from New Town for fair representation. This agreement also was known as a "settlement". On May 26, 1658, New Town petitioned the General Court for independent town status, but the Old Town denied the petition.. The Old Town required all inhabitants, including those in the New Town, to attend church in Old Town and fined settlers for each missed meeting The church and preacher were maintained from taxes. Minister Joseph Peasley of New Town and his congregation attempting to defy the General Court were summoned into District Court at Ipswich "to answer for their disobedience", were fined there and Peasly was enjoined from preaching. Another petition for separation was denied in 1660. The burden of attending church several miles away became so great that New Town built a new meeting house and requested the General Court to find a preacher. The court yielded to the petition of 1666, granting the "liberty of a township" to New Town. The town was unofficially incorporated, meaning a government was constituted and officers elected, on June 15. It was named New Salisbury, but in 1667 the name was changed to Amesbury on the analogy of Amesbury, England, which was next to Salisbury, England.. Amesbury was officially granted incorporation under that name on April 29, 1668. After King Phillips War (1675–1678), an effort by the natives to rid themselves of the colonists, the Royal Province of New Hampshire was created and took away several towns in northern Norfolk shire. Massachusetts was reduced in size from most of New England to roughly its current borders. The Court dissolved Norfolk Shire, transferring Salisbury and Amesbury to Essex County. In 1876, Merrimac was created out of West Amesbury. In 1886, West Salisbury was annexed to Amesbury, unifying the mill areas on both banks of the Pow-wow River.

Post-settlement

Beginning as a modest farming community, it developed a maritime and industrial economy.

Shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to bef ...

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

were also important. The

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

across the

was a business until the construction of bridges to cross the river. Newton,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, was set off from Amesbury in 1741, when the border between the two colonies was adjusted. In the 19th century,

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, different #Fabric, fabric types, etc. At f ...

mills were built at the falls, as was a nail-making factory. Beginning around 1800, Amesbury began building carriages, a trade which evolved into the manufacture of automobile bodies. Prominent manufacturers included Walker Body Company, Briggs Carriage Company, and Biddle and Smart. The industry ended with the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. The Merrimac Hat Company was founded in 1856 and became one of the top hat producers in the nation. Amesbury also produced Hoyt's Buffalo Brand Peanut Butter Kisses. In 1876, the town of Merrimac was set off from Amesbury. Newspapers in the 19th century included the ''Amesbury Daily News'', ''Merrimac Journal'', ''Morning Courier'', ''Evening Courier'', ''New England Chronicle'', ''Transcript'', and the ''Villager''. Newspapers in the 20th century included the ''Amesbury Advocate'', ''Amesbury News'', ''Amesbury Times'', and ''Leader''.

Twentieth century and beyond

In 1996, the town changed its status to a city, and adopted the mayor and municipal council form of government, although it retained the title "Town of Amesbury", as voters "thought Amesbury was too small and quaint to be a city". Voters approved a charter amendment in November 2011 changing the city's official name to the "City of Amesbury" and removing references to the old "Town of Amesbury" name. The city's seal still bears the name "Town of Amesbury", although the City put forth a bill in 2013 to correct the seal with the new name. The community has several buildings that feature early

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

, particularly in the Federal and Victorian styles. The "

Doughboy Doughboy was a popular nickname for the American infantryman during World War I. Though the origins of the term are not certain, the nickname was still in use as of the early 1940s. Examples include the 1942 song "Johnny Doughboy Found a Rose i ...

", a memorial sculpture by Leonard Craske, stands on the front lawn of the Amesbury Middle School. It was dedicated November 11, 1929. Craske is best known as sculptor for the "Fishermens' Memorial" in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...

. There is also a monument erected to Josiah Bartlett, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, who was born in Amesbury. Image:Macy House, Amesbury, MA.jpg, ''Thomas Macy House'' Image:Mills, Amesbury, MA.jpg, ''Mills'' in 1914 Image:Josiah Bartlett's Statue, Amesbury, MA.jpg, ''Statue of Josiah Bartlett, signer of the Declaration of Independence,'' Image:Whittier's Home, Amesbury, MA.jpg, ''Whittier's home'' in 1909

Geography

Amesbury is located at . According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 10.65%, is water. Amesbury is drained by the Powwow River. Powwow Hill, elevation , is the highest point in town. Once the site of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

gatherings, or " powwows", it has views to

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

and

Cape Ann Cape Ann is a rocky peninsula in northeastern Massachusetts, United States on the Atlantic Ocean. It is about northeast of Boston and marks the northern limit of Massachusetts Bay. Cape Ann includes the city of Gloucester and the towns o ...

. Amesbury is the second northernmost town in Massachusetts, its northernmost point coming just south of the northernmost point of the state, in Salisbury. Amesbury lies along the northern banks of the

and is bordered by

to the east,

to the southeast, West Newbury to the southwest, Merrimac to the west, and South Hampton, New Hampshire, to the north. The Powwow River bisects the town, joined by the Back River near the town center. The river flows through Lake Gardner and

Tuxbury Pond Tuxbury Pond is a lake which straddles the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border, abutting the towns of Amesbury, Massachusetts and South Hampton, New Hampshire. It is located along the Powwow River The Powwow River is a river located in New Hamps ...

, which are two of several inland bodies of water in town, including Lake Attitash (which is partially in Merrimac), Meadowbrook Pond, and Pattens Pond. Several brooks also flow through the town. Amesbury has a town forest, which is connected to Woodsom Farm, as well as Powwow Conservation Area, Victoria Batchelder Park and Amesbury Golf & Country Club.

Transportation

Amesbury is served by two interstate highways. Interstate 495 runs from west to east through town, ending at Interstate 95 just over the Salisbury town line. It has two exits in town, Exit 54 at Massachusetts Route 150 (which lies entirely within Amesbury, and leads to New Hampshire Route 150) and Exit 55 at Massachusetts Route 110, which also provides the town's only direct access to Interstate 95 at Exit 58. I-95 crosses the southeast corner of town, entering along the John Greenleaf Whittier Memorial Bridge, a steel through-truss bridge crossing the Merrimack River. The Whittier Memorial Bridge lies just west of the town's only other bridges across the Merrimack, the Derek S. Hines Memorial Bridge, which connects Amesbury to Deer Island (which is still part of Amesbury), and the Chain Bridge, the only suspension bridge in Massachusetts, which spans from Deer Island to Newburyport. The current version was built in 1909, but was predated by the 1810 suspension bridge, one of the oldest suspension bridges in the country. The Chain Bridge and its counterparts over the years have been the main entryways into town across the Merrimack, and until the building of the Newburyport Turnpike Bridge, it was the easternmost bridge on the Merrimack River. MVRTA provides bus service in Amesbury. Route 51 connects to the Haverhill train station. Route 54 connects to Newburyport train station.

Government

Amesbury is part of the

Massachusetts Senate's 1st Essex district Massachusetts Senate's 1st Essex district in the United States is one of 40 legislative districts of the Massachusetts Senate. It covers 23.0% of Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex county population. Massachusetts Democratic Party, Democrat Diana ...

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 16,450 people, 6,380 households, and 4,229 families residing in the city.Census 2000
The population density was . There were 6,623 housing units at an average density of 206.2 persons/km² (534.0 persons/sq mi). The racial makeup of the city was 97.2% White, 0.6%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.22% Native American, 0.9% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 6,380 households, out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% were married couples living together, 11.3% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 33.7% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.09. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,906, and the median income for a family was $62,875. Males had a median income of $25,489 versus $31,968 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $23,103. 5.9% of the population and 3.9% of families were below the poverty line.

Education

The major educational institutions are: * Amesbury Public Schools ** Amesbury Elementary School (K–5) ** Charles C. Cashman Elementary School (K–5) ** Amesbury Middle School (6–8) **

Amesbury High School Amesbury High School is a coeducational public high school in the city of Amesbury, Massachusetts Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from S ...

(9–12) ** Amesbury Innovation High School (School of Choice) * Sparhawk School (School of Choice) Amesbury's high school football rival is

; the two teams play against each other every Thanksgiving Day. The Amesbury mascot is "Indians."

Public library

As of 2012, the Amesbury Public Library pays for access to information resources produced by Brainfuse, Cengage Learning, EBSCO Industries, LearningExpress, Library Ideas, Mango Languages, NewsBank,

Online Computer Library Center OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It w ...

(OCLC),

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

, TumbleBook Library,

World Book The ''World Book Encyclopedia'' is an American encyclopedia. The encyclopedia is designed to cover major areas of knowledge uniformly, but it shows particular strength in scientific, technical, historical and medical subjects. ''World Book'' w ...

of Berkshire Hathaway, and World Trade Press. The Public Library houses an extensive Local History and genealogy collection which is open and available for research.

Points of interest

Notable people

* Jimmy Bannon (1871–1948),

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

* Josiah Bartlett (1729–1795), signer of the Declaration of Independence, fourth

Governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering ...

* Daniel Blaisdell (1762–1833), congressman from New Hampshire *

Nathaniel Currier Nathaniel Currier (March 27, 1813 – November 20, 1888) was an American lithographer. He headed the company Currier & Ives with James Ives. Early years Currier was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to Nathaniel and Hannah Currier. He attended ...

(1813–1888), American lithographer, Currier and Ives * Jeffrey Donovan (born 1968), actor; star of television show ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar ...

'' * Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), founder of Christian Science *

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American collo ...

(1874–1963), poet * Susannah (North) Martin, victim of Salem witch trials in 1692 *

William A. Paine William Alfred Paine (January 29, 1855 – September 24, 1929) was an American businessman who co-founded the brokerage firm Paine Webber. He was also instrumental in the creation of the mining venture Copper Range Consolidated Company. Bi ...

(1844–1929), businessman, co-founded the

brokerage firm A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be con ...

Paine Webber * Harriet Prescott Spofford (1835–1921), author * Paine Wingate (1739–1838), preacher, served in the Continental Congress; US senator and congressman * Al Capp, cartoonist, author of long running satirical strip

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn b ...

lived in Amesbury for most of his life and is buried in the town. * John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892), poet

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Amesbury is twinned with: * Esabalu, Kenya (since 1987)

References

Publications

Books and articles

* *
Amesbury Vital Records to 1849.
Published 1913. Transcribed and put online by John Slaughter and Jodi Salerno. * * Merrill, Joseph
History of Amesbury
from the ''History of Essex County'' Volume 2 Chapter 125, pages 1495–1535, compiled by D. Hamilton Hurd, published by J.W. Lewis 1888.

Maps

* Sargeant, Christopher
1794 Map of Amesbury.
* Clough, Aaron
1795 Map of Salisbury.
* Nichols, W., J S Morse
1830 Map of Amesbury.
* Anderson, Philander
1830 Map of Salisbury.
*Beers, D.G. 1872 Atlas of Essex County, Massachusett
Amesbury. Plate 9. Amesbury and Salisbury Mills. Now Amesbury Center. Plate 12. Salisbury. Plate 15. West Amesbury now Merrimac. And East Salisbury. Plate 17. Salisbury Point. Plate 19. (Now The Point in Amesbury).
* Bigelow, E.H
Amesbury and Salisbury Mills.
Bird's-eye view at the Boston Public Library website. * Norris, George E
Amesbury.
Panoramic View. Published 1890. Burleigh Lith. Est. At the Library of Congress website. * Hughes & Bailey
Amesbury.
Panoramic View. Published 1914. * Walker, George H. 1884 Atlas of Essex County Massachusett
1884 Map of Amesbury. Plate 169.Amesbury, Salisbury Point. Plate 74.Merrimac Center (was West Amesbury). Plate 151.Amesbury Village Mills. Plate 170-171.1884 Map of Merrimac. Plate 172.1884 Map of Salisbury. Plate 175.Salisbury Village Mills on the Powwow River. Plate. 176-177.East Salisbury. Plate 178.Danvers Catholic Church, Folger's Carriage Factory Amesbury. Plate 166.

External links

City of Amesbury

Explore Amesbury

Amesbury Chamber of Commerce

Amesbury Public Library
{{authority control Cities in Massachusetts Populated places established in 1642 Massachusetts populated places on the Merrimack River Cities in Essex County, Massachusetts 1642 establishments in Massachusetts