Seeing Amesbury: Historic Images from the Orientation Exhibit

by
John Mayer, Executive Director

Finding prints, photographs and other illustrations for the current exhibit at the Industrial History Center - A Productive Story – Industry and Worklife in Amesbury - was a fun and interesting challenge. To tell our story, we used a variety of images that we were able to use with permission from libraries and museums from the region.

We are always looking for new and unusual views of Amesbury. And research is never done! It is interesting how the trail leads to unexpected places and interesting collections.

Except for our final example, a drone image made in 2020 by John Almas, the following images are included in the exhibit.

 

Map from 1675

A section of the 1675 map by John Seller showing the Merrimack River as it flows into the Atlantic. While Amesbury does not appear on the map – neighboring towns of Haverhill and Salisbury are shown. (From collection of Boston Public Library, Norman B. Leventhal Center.) Click image to enlarge. The entire map is available here.

The first image in the exhibit is a 1675 map from the Leventhal Collection at the Boston Public Library.

John Seller’s Mapp of New England provides a rendering of New England before familiar boundaries and settlements were established. The map provides a view of how the geography of our region appeared before European settlements and the development we are familiar with today.

The source of the 1675 map, Leventhal Map and Education Center, also offers a very interesting curriculum – Britain’s North American Empire – 1607 – 1764 – that uses maps to explore the history of settlement and British conquest of New England. It is an important history and interesting to see how maps document these political interests and historical events. Here is a link to the curriculum.

 

Drawing the Mills Village

Southeastern view of the Mills Village in Salisbury and Amesbury, 1836, by John Warner Barber. (From collection of the American Antiquarian Society.) Click image to enlarge.

Artist, historian and printer, John Warner Barber (1798 – 1885) made an ink drawing of the Amesbury and Salisbury Mills Village during his visit around 1836. This is the earliest view we have found of Amesbury. He made an engraving of the drawing which he included in an encyclopedia of Massachusetts published in 1839.

The drawing offers a view of Amesbury made from around the Mount Prospect Cemetery on Elm Street. Two gentlemen appear to be admiring the scale of factories built to support the newly developed textile industry.

For historical enthusiasts, Barber’s 1839 encyclopedia provides a description of “every town” in Massachusetts and includes 200 illustrations. It is interesting to read Barber’s description of Amesbury (found starting on page 158) at a time when industrial developments were dramatically changing the town.

Barber’s book can be found at Archive.org.

 

An Industrial Panorama

Panorama of the Lower Millyard, ca. 1890. (Courtesy of the Amesbury Public Library, Local History Collection) Click image to enlarge.

By the 1890s when this panorama image of the Lower Millyard was made, industrial activities were at their peak. The Hamilton Woolen Company operated the textile mills that filled the downtown. Carriage making bustled in large factories built up along the railroad. And a number of other trades and businesses operated in support of these companies.

This view offers a great challenge – how many buildings can you find that still stand today? If you follow the railroad tracks, you will see a portion of the station that is today Crave restaurant. The Market Street Baptist Church with its distinctive tower is clearly visible. And if you look closely, Mill 2 (now Amesbury Industrial Supply) is visible in the background.

The density of development offers a visual record of the many industries that were active at the time.

 

A Drone-View Today

Aerial view by drone of the Lower Millyard, 2020. (From collection of the Amesbury Carriage Museum.) Click image to enlarge.

In 2020, the Industrial Survey team launched a study of the ca. 1880 Biddle & Smart building at 29 Water Street. As part of this project, we invited local photographer Jon Almas to use his drone to document the lower millyard landscape.

While not included in the current IHC exhibit, an aerial view from the study illustrates persistence and change. Many of the early mill buildings still stand. And the landscape and geography of the area appears in all of the early views.

This sort of “before and after” comparison helps understand the changing nature of our world. In this drone image the automobile has dramatically affected the landscape with roads and parking lots. The railroad is gone and many of our workplaces are supporting industries of different scale and purpose.

There are always new histories to learn and stories to uncover. This is the thrill of local history!

 
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