Introduction
The invention of photography roughly 150 years ago was a marvel. All of a sudden, people could quickly capture moments in time. What might take an artist weeks to paint, or a poet days to describe, photographers could document in a flash.
Bill Varrell’s second volume of photographs, Ipswich Revisited, is a treasure-trove of glimpses into Ipswich’s rich past, culled from public and private collections. Many of these photographs are published here for the first time. As Bill explained to me, "Once these pictures have been discovered, I can't bear the thought of them sitting in the dark. They need to be seen."
The photographs he has chosen are an engaging pictorial journey back in time. They call to Ipswich residents to rediscover their town, and to visitors to imagine‚ "with book in hand," what downtown was like before cars, when trolleys ran, or when fire pumps were drawn by horses. What did the Ipswich Painters see when they climbed Town Hill to sketch? What were parades and celebrations like when Teddy Roosevelt came to town, when veterans marched, and town anniversaries were observed?
With Bill's book, you can stand in the midst of a present-day Ipswich streetscape and picture the hotels, grand homes, and modest shops that were lost to fire. You can see where Bernie Spencer and his team of horses plowed the sidewalks, where the “Linehan sisters” ran their popular teahouse, where mill workers lived and made hosiery, and where ships unloaded coal and lumber at Town Wharf to be shipped down river.
You can also see Ipswichers at play in the old days—enjoying family picnics, outings to the beach, boating, or dressing up in colonial garb for "Olde Ipswich Days." Because as much as this book documents change, it also presents a reassuring continuity.
Ipswichers still flock to Crane Beach, still indulge at the Clam Box, still care for Ipswich’s numerous “first period” houses and vast open spaces. Appleton Farms is still in operation, the train comes and goes to Boston, downtown shops thrive. This close-knit community, forged out of colonists, farmers, fishermen, tradespeople, mill workers, and business owners continues along.
In 1896, at the unveiling of the South Green Memorial Tablets, the renowned Ipswich historian and founder of the Ipswich Historical Society, Thomas Franklin Waters, declared, "the Past still lingers in memory and the glory of the earliest days is not eclipsed by the happenings of the present‚ [with the dedication of this Memorial], we hope to foster historic spirit and awaken local pride."
More recently, the author David McCullough said, "I love to go to the places where things happen. I like to walk the walk and see how the light falls and what winter feels like. To me history ought to be a source of pleasure. It isn't just part of our civic responsibility. To me it's an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is."
Let Bill Varrell's book awaken your historic spirit and local pride. Rediscover Ipswich, or discover it for the first time. See the places. Walk the walk. Find out more. And enjoy!
Bonnie Hurd Smith
Executive Director
Ipswich Historical Society and Museums
March 2006