Welcome to Essex

Essex was first a center of shipbuilding and fishing. According to the Historic Essex Walking Tour, “For over 300 years, dating back to the mid-seventeenth century, close to 4,000 wooden vessels were built and launched from the shores of the Essex River.” Visitors can learn more at the Shipbuilding Museum on Main Street.

 

Today, Essex is known for its geographical beauty, antique shops, waterfront recreation, and restaurants specializing in New England fare, most notably clams gathered daily at low tide, from the nearby mud flats along the Essex River.

 

Two noteworthy people related to the Salem witch trials and Essex are Rachel Haffield Clinton (alternately spelled Clenton), a survivor of a witchcraft accusation who lived in what is today Essex before moving to the center of Ipswich, and John Proctor, one of the 19 innocents hanged for witchcraft, who initially lived in Ipswich but later inherited property from his father, also located in today’s Essex. Both arrived with their families in Massachusetts in 1635 when they were young children. A third notable person is Reverend John Wise, minister of the Chebacco Parish, remembered for his courage in facing down unfair British taxation and the injustice of the Salem witch trials, and for his early support of inoculation against smallpox.

 

Also of note is Choate Island, situated in the Essex River Estuary and part of the Crane Wildlife Refuge, which was the site of the filming of The Crucible in 1996. Based on the Arthur Miller play, a fictionalized account of the Salem witch trials, the movie starred Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder.

 

Special thanks to Ipswich historians Gordon Harris and Tom Beddall for their invaluable knowledge and generous help.