Erected “To the Memory of her Brave Sons who gave their lives for their country during the War of the Rebellion.”

The New Ipswich men received news of the Alarm at about 2:00 pm. The local farmers gathered at Muster Farm to go to Concord. The Committee on Safety assembled on the Common and fired three guns. People assembled there in less than 2 hours in great numbers in front of the Meeting House. Preparations meant the men did not leave until daybreak. The New Ipswich Company recorded 98 men on the rolls, and other men went to Peterborough, so it has been estimated that as many as 150 New Ipswich men went off to war. The New Ipswich Company led by Captain Ezra Towne Company was at Bunker Hill.

Prior to 1753, burials were made near Stafford Lane on Old Country Road.
Old Burial Ground laid out in 1752; first burials in 1753;
South Burial Ground, Smithville Cemetery laid out in 1778, first burials in 1780;
Central Cemetery laid out 1809, first burials in 1809;
Sacred Heart Cemetery, established 1890, first burials in 1890.

Forest Hall was built as a wedding gift for Charles Barrett and his bride by his father, Charles Barrett, Sr.  Tradition has it that the bride’s father collaborated with the elder Barrett by agreeing to furnish as large a house as Senior Barrett could build. The interiors are elegant and reflect the prosperity New Ipswich residents enjoyed at the time. New Ipswich was a prosperous community at the beginning of the 19th century, but eventually the town fell into decline when nearby Greenville became the heart of the growing industries of the time. The grounds include a terraced allée, a summerhouse, lawns, cottage garden and perennial border. For information about the house, visit the Barrett House Web site.

The first meetinghouse was built near the head of Stafford Lane on Old Country Road and burned in 1748 when the settlement was abandoned during the French and Indian War.

Open monthly, June through October on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, 12:00 -4:00 pm, or by appointment.  Originally Schoolhouse #1 in Center Village, it was built in 1829 and served as a school for 30 years. It became a carpenter’s shop, then a blacksmith shop until in 1929 it was donated to the Historical Society.

The Wilders built a series of homes in the 19th century in what is now called Wilder Village. Many of the homes burned and were rebuilt or family members moved or built elsewhere within the village. Peter Wilder came from Boston in 1810 and settled in an area known as Tophet Swamp where he built a mill and several houses, and began to make chairs with his sons, Josiah and John and his son-in-law Abijah Wetherbee. By 1850 the Wilder chair business was flourishing. They made curve-backed, thumb-backed, pine-seated, and comb-backed chairs as well as rocking chairs. Peter died in 1846, but the Wilder Chair industry continued until 1869, when a flood took out the dam and ruined the mill. By this time the brothers were too old to begin again.

Originally, the Heywood and Woods Store, it passed through several proprietorships until the Masons purchased the Silver’s Store as a meeting house in 1903.

This was built as meeting place for organizations, and used for the Women’s Relief Corps, the Village Improvement Society and by the Town. During the 1800s the lower level served as a restaurant, saloon, confectioner’s store and carpenter’s shop. The building was acquired by the Watatic Grange in 1956.

Mill site is at High Bridge and was originally the site of two former mills. The first mill was in operation in 1825 and burned in 1838; the replacement was also destroyed by fire in 1872.