Turnpike Road

The Third New Hampshire Turnpike, chartered in 1799, connected Walpole, Keene, Jaffrey, Sharon, and New Ipswich with Townsend, Massachusetts and onward to Boston. The turnpike brought economic prosperity and cultural diversity to New Ipswich and its imprint still runs through the center of the town in the form of remaining inns, grand houses, businesses, and gathering places. Here are a few photographs of Turnpike Road, as it came to be called, most of them from the turn of the century (ca. 1900).

Recent Acquisitions

See what items have been donated to the Historical Society recently. If you can add any information about any of these, email us at info@newipswichhistoricalsociety.org.

Center Village Historic District

The Center Village of New Ipswich is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. If you want to see some of the houses included, as well as a map of the District and a complete listing of all properties included, go to our new Center Village Historic District page.

New Ipswich in the Civil War

During the American Civil War, New Ipswich people served both on the battlefield and at home. One resident, Lydia Clark O'Bear, even wrote a book about the contributions of townsfolk to the war effort. For more information, see our new Civil War pages.

Photo of the century: Our forebears

The Way We were, 1906 Group photo of the Historical Society, taken in 1906.

The photo was labelled "Cranford Company, 1906."

Does anyone know what that was, or where this picture was taken?

Back row, l to r: Hattie McKown, Prof. Poore, Abbie Phelps; 2nd row: Abby Beard, Mrs. Samuel Thayer, Ettie Taylor, Miss Marie Lindberg (a teacher), Annie Thayer, Miss Lee, Ella Walker, Lizzie Crowell; kneeling: Arthur Thayer, Edna Hudson.