History of Rowley, Massachusetts

Rowley is a historic town in Essex County in Massachusetts that was settled by English colonists in the early 17th century.

The following is an overview of the history of Rowley:

1635:

  • The Humphrey Bradstreet Farm and the John Cross Farm are established on what is now Main Street after receiving two land grants from the King of England.

1638:

  • Rowley is settled by Reverend Ezekiel Rogers and is known as the Ezekiel Rogers Plantation.

1639:

  • The Rowley Burial Ground is established on Main Street.
  • The Rowley Boundary Markers, two large stones, are erected at the entrance of the Common land on what is now Central Street. The colonists are ordered not to build their houses beyond these markers to protect themselves against attacks from Native Americans.
  • On September 4, Rowley is incorporated as a town in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and is named after Rowley, England where Reverend Ezekiel Rogers served as a pastor for 20 years before being suspended due to his Puritan beliefs.
Seal of the Town of Rowley
  • Wethersfield Street, Holme Street (now Central Street), Pleasant Street, Bradford Street, Kiln Lane (now Independent Street) and High Way (now Summer Street) are laid out.

1642:

  • The Mill River Dam is built on Glen Street.

1643:

  • The First Fulling Mill is built by John Pearson on what is now Route 1.
  • The Glen Mills Bridge, also known as the Old Stone Arch Bridge, is built on what is now Glen Street probably by mill wright Richard Holmes, making it the first stone arch bridge in America.

1649:

1651:

  • On July 16, Reverend Ezekiel Roger’s house burns in a fire.

1660:

  • The Abraham Jewett House is built for local tanner Abraham Jewett on Haverhill Street.

1671:

  • The Chaplin – Clarke House, a first period clapboard house, is built on Haverhill Street on the former site of the Hugh Chaplin house.

1676:

  • The Benjamin Scott Jr house is built for Benjamin Scott, possibly either the son or husband of Salem Witch Trials victims Margaret Scott, on Central Street.

1677:

  • The Platts – Bradstreet House, a first period clapboard house, is built for Samuel Platts on Main Street and was later purchased by the Bradstreet family in 1770.

1680:

  • The Jonathan Platts House, a first period clapboard house, is built on Main Street.

1692:

  • On August 2, Timothy Swan, Mary Walcott and Ann Putnam accuse Rowley resident Mary Post of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.
  • On August 3, Mary Post is arrested on charges of witchcraft.
  • On August 4, Rowley resident Margaret Scott is accused of witchcraft and arrested.
  • On August 25, Ephraim Foster of Ipswich and Joseph Tyler of Boxford accuse local Rowley residents John Jackson Sr, John Jackson Jr, and John Howard of witchcraft. John Jackson Jr was the brother of accused witch Elizabeth Jackson Howe of Ipswich.
  • On August 26, John Jackson Sr, John Jackson Jr, and John Howard are arrested on charges of witchcraft.
  • On September 15, Margaret Scott’s witchcraft trial begins in Salem.
  • On September 17, Margaret Scott is found guilty and sentenced to death.
  • On September 22, Margaret Scott is executed in Salem.

1699:

  • The Thomas Lambert House, a first period clapboard house, is built for Thomas Lambert Jr on Main Street.
  • The population of Rowley is 680.

1708:

  • The Boston – Ipswich Mile Marker is erected on Central Street.

1709:

  • The Isaac Killbourne House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Bradford Street.

1714:

  • The Captain John Pearson House, a Colonial-style house, is built on the Old Bay Road which is now Glen Street.

1721:

  • The Ezekiel Northend House is built on Main Street.

1723:

  • The Jonathan Dickinson House is built on Haverhill Street.
  • The Dickinson Well and barn are built on Haverhill Street.

1724:

  • The Armitage Tavern – Edward Saunders House in built on Main Street.

1725:

  • The Todd House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Fenno Drive.
  • The Moses Hobson – Captain Ebenezer P. House Perley, a Colonial-style house, is built on Main Street.

1727:

  • The Samuel Elwell House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Wethersfield Street sometime between 1707 and 1727 and is later owned by Samuel Elwell in 1856.

1730:

  • The Nathaniel Mighill – Nathaniel Perley House, a Georgian-style house, is built on Main Street.

1732:

  • The Joseph Dickinson House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Haverhill Street.
  • The Langley – Hale – Cressey House is built on Pleasant Street.

1740:

  • The Moses Richards Homestead, a Federal-style house, is built on Bradford Street.

1742:

  • The Humphrey Hobson House, a Georgian-style house, is built for local deacon Humphrey Hobson on Wethersfield Street.

1747:

  • The Nathaniel Tenney – Nathaniel Dummer House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Long Hill Road.
  • The Line Brook Cemetery is established on Leslie Road.

1750:

  • The S.P. Jewett House, a Federal-style house, is built on Central Street.
  • The Todd – Ellsworth – Hale House is built on Main Street.
  • The Cressey House, also known as the Witham’s Country Store, is built on Summer Street.
  • The John White – Amos Saunders House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Wethersfield Street.
  • The Joseph Dole – Amos N. Saunders House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Wethersfield Street.
  • The Gage – Dole House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Wethersfield Street.
  • The John White – Amos N. Saunders House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Wethersfield Street.

1753:

  • The Joshua Prime House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Pleasant Street.

1760:

  • The Reindeer Tavern – Gage House, a Colonial-style house, is built for Thomas Nelson on Main Street. It served as a tavern where soldiers returning from the French and Indian War would often gather and tell war stories.

1763:

  • The John Bailey – Dr. Charles Proctor House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Main Street.

1765:

  • The John Harris Jr – Deacon Joshua Jewett House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Hammond Street.
  • The Moses Duty House, a Colonial-style house, is built for Moses Duty on Wethersfield Street.

1770:

  • On September 12-13, Reverend George Whitefield, an Anglican Protestant minister who helped spread the Great Awakening in the UK and the British North American colonies, preaches to 2,000 of his followers at Pulpit Rock, a natural rock formation in the woods.

1772:

  • The Deacon Joseph Searle – Luther Moody House, a Colonial-style house, is built for Deacon Joseph Searle on Dodge Road and was later sold to Luther Moody in 1838.
  • The Phineas Dodge House and Farm are built on Mill Road.

1775:

  • The Nelson Todd House, a Federal-style house, is built for Nelson Todd on Pleasant Street.
  • The Smallpox Cemetery, also known as the Metcalf Rock Pasture Burial Ground, is established on Trowbridge Circle. Between 1775 and 1781, twelve smallpox victims are buried here.

1776:

  • The population of Rowley is 1,678.

1780:

  • The Pearson – Dummer House is built on Glen Street and was later home to Joseph Dummer.
  • The Dr. William Hale House is built for Dr. William Hale on Summer Street.

1785:

  • The Humphrey Bradstreet King Grant Farm and the John Cross King Grant Farm on what is now Main Street are annexed to the town of Rowley.
  • The Joseph Jewett House, a Colonial-style house, is built on Bradford Street.
  • By the late 1700s, the population of Rowley is 1,678.

1787:

  • The Samuel Lancaster House is built for Samuel Lancaster on Pleasant Street.
  • The Humphrey Hobson House – Fairview Hotel, a Federal-style house, is built on Wethersfield Street. It later became the Fairview Hotel in 1890.

1790:

  • The Thomas Gage House, a farmhouse, is built for town clerk, author and historian Thomas Gage on Main Street.
  • The James Smith – Billings House, a Federal-style house, is built on Main Street.
James Smith – Billings House Main Street Rowley, Ma
  • The Glen Mills Cereal Company Boarding House is built on the Newburyport Turnpike.
  • The population of Rowley is 1,772.

1794:

  • The Bailey House, a Federal-style house, is built on Wethersfield Street.
  • The David Perley House, a Colonial-style farmhouse, is built sometime between 1794 and 1830 on the Perley Farm on Boxford Road.

1795:

  • The Palmer-Todd House, a Federal-style house, is built for Lieutenant James Todd on Wethersfield Street sometime between 1795 and 1806.

1798:

  • The Joshua Pickard House, a Federal-style house, is built for Joshua Pickard on Central Street as part of a school. It was later moved to Hammond Street in 1847 and converted into a residence.

1800:

  • The Hale – Pickard House, a Federal-style house, is built for Captain Samuel Pickard on Main Street.
  • The Nathan Hobson House, a Federal-style house, is built on Summer Street.
  • The Josiah Stickney – S.D. Jewett House, a Federal-style house, is built on Wethersfield Street.
  • The population of Rowley is 1,557.

1803:

  • The Reverend David Tullar House, a Federal-style house, is built for the First Parish of Rowley pastor Reverend Tullar on Main Street.

1805:

  • The Lieutenant John Harris House, a Georgian-style house, is built for Lt. Harris on Main Street.
  • The Lieutenant Daniel Foster farmhouse, a Federal-style house, is built on the Dodge Farm on Summer Street.

1808:

  • The John H. Whitson House, a Federal-style house, is built on Central Street.

1809:

  • The Pearson family sells the fulling mill to the Dummer family who operate it as a grist mill and rename it Glen Mills.

1810:

  • The Glen Mills Stone Bridge is rebuilt on Glen Street.
  • The population of Rowley is 1,682.

1811:

  • The David Payson – Frank P. Todd House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Main Street.

1815:

  • The Nathan Hobson – Dr. Richard Herbert House, a Federal-style house, is built on Summer Street.

1816:

  • The John Tenney – Perley House, a Federal-style farmhouse, is built the Perley – Tenney farm on Newbury Road.

1820:

  • The population of Rowley is 1,825.

1825:

  • The Phineas Dodge House is built on the Dodge Farm on Dodge Road.

1827:

  • The Joseph Hale House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built for local schoolteacher Joseph Hale on Main Street.
  • The Mighill House, a Federal-style house, is built on Wethersfield Street.
  • The Henry Bailey – Lewis Adams House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Wethersfield Street.

1830:

  • The Dole House is built on Independent Street and later moved to Bradford Street sometime after 1881.
  • The Luther Chaplin House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Haverhill Street sometime between 1830 and 1856.
  • The William T. Wallis House, a Greek Revival-style house. is built on Haverhill Street.
  • The Eben Boynton Stable and Cabinet Shop is built on Summer Street.
  • The Rowley First Baptist Church, a Federal-style building, is constructed on Main Street.
  • The William C. Foster Shoe Factory is built on Summer Street.
  • The William C. Foster House is built on Summer Street.
  • The population of Rowley is 2,044.

1835:

  • The Cogswell – Reverend John Pike House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Main Street.

1837:

  • The Thomas Bradstreet – Moses House is built on Main Street.
  • The population of Rowley is 2,444.

1838:

  • The Ezekiel Northend House is moved to the corner of Main Street and Hammond Street.
  • The Captain Daniel N. Prime House, a Federal-style house, is built on Central Street and serves as a general store until the business closes in 1943.

1840:

  • The Elijah P. Searle House is built for local carpenter Elijah P. Searle on Long Hill Road.
  • The N.M. Todd – Harry Babcock House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Main Street.
  • The population of Rowley is 1,230.

1842:

  • The First Congregational Church of Rowley, a Greek Revival-style building, is constructed on Main Street.

1843:

  • The S.P. Prescott – Dodge House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Haverhill Street.

1845:

  • The Benjamin Bishop – William Johnson is built on Railroad Ave.

1846:

  • The Austin Miller House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Main Street.

1847:

  • Grange Hall, a Greek Revival-style building, is constructed on Central Street. The downstairs serves as a school house until 1904, when the Center School was built, and the upstairs serves as the town hall until 1902, when the new town hall was built on Main Street.

1850:

  • The Mark C. Perley – Albert Ralph House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built for Mark C. Perley on Main Street.
  • The Daniels House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Daniels Road.
  • The Benjamin Dodge House, an Italianate-style house, is built on Independent Street.
  • The Rose Cottage – Mark Jewett House is built on Railroad Avenue.

1855:

  • The Phillips – Saunders House is built on Haverhill Street.

1856:

  • The Jacob Perley House is built on Jacob Perley’s farm on Bennett Hill Road.
  • The Daniel Prime – James Perley House is built for Daniel Prime on Central Street.
  • The George W. Daniels – Robert B. Kinnear house, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Daniels Road.

1857:

  • The Frederick Bailey House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built for carpenter Frederick Bailey on Wethersfield Street.

1858:

  • The Mary E. Mooney House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Haverhill Street.

1859:

  • The James O. Hale House, a Victorian Eclectic-style house, is built on Glen Street.
  • The Daniel Hale Jr House, a Federal/Greek Revival-style house, is built on the Hale farm on Glen Street.

1860:

  • The Dr. Stephen Pedrick House, a Victorian Eclectic-style house, is built for Bradstreet Cressey on Main Street. It is later occupied by Dr. Pedrick in the early 20th century.

1864:

  • The Lydia Hayes House is built on Railroad Avenue.

1865:

  • A boardinghouse is built on Daniels Road.

1869:

  • The Henry Keyes House is built on Railroad Avenue.
  • The Millwood Schoolhouse, a Victorian-style building, is constructed on Haverhill Street.

1870:

  • In the 1870s, the population of Rowley is 1,157.

1872:

  • The Eben Keyes – James H. Cook House, a Gothic Revival-style house, is built on Central Street.
  • The Lewis Adams House, a Greek Revival-style house, is built on Main Street sometime prior to 1872.

1873:

  • The Bernard Damon – Alice Daniels House, a Second Empire-style house, is built for Bernard Damon on Central Street. Damon also built a shoe shop in the backyard in 1878 which operated until it was converted into an auto repair shop in 1923.

1877:

  • The Dr. Benjamin Bartlett House, a Colonial Revival-style house, is built for Dr. Bartlett on Main Street and serves as a hospital.

1879:

  • The Seth Stockbridge – Jewell D. Sornborger House, a Gothic Revival-style House, is built for Gloucester fish dealer Seth Stockbridge on Kittery Ave.

1880:

  • The Burke Heel Factory is built on the corner of Main Street and Railroad Avenue. It operated as a shoe factory until 1920 when the factory closed and the building was torn down.
  • Two Greek Revival-style houses are built on Daniel Road.

1881:

  • The Arthur Bishop House, an Italianate-style house, is built on Central Street.
  • The Edward Bailey House is built on School Street.
  • The George G. Bailey – Jacob Short House is built on School Street.
  • The George G. Bailey – Jacob House is built on School Street.
  • The George G. Bailey – Henry Smith House is built on School Street.
  • The Maurice Saunders – Charles Belleveaux House is built on School Street.
  • The Charles S. Lucas House is built on School Street.
  • The William J. Riley – Lucy Peabody House is built on School Street.
  • The George Bailey – Harold Kneeland House is built on School Street.
  • The Anna M. Pickard – George G. Bailey House is built on School Street.

1882:

  • The Jacob Jewett Smith Barn – Eagle House Restaurant, a Victorian eclectic-style building, is constructed on Haverhill Street. It was originally used for agriculture until 1964 when it was converted into a restaurant.

1885:

  • The David O. Nelson House is built on Glen Street.

1887:

  • The Frank L. Burke Shoe Heel Factory Worker Housing, a Greek Revival-style house and a Victorian Eclectic-style house, are built on Jellison Road.
  • The Mooney and Richardson Leather Heel Factory is built on the corner of Main and Railroad Avenue.

1888:

  • The James O. Hale House, a Victorian eclectic-style house, is built on Glen Street.
  • The Rowley River Bridge is built by the Boston and Maine Railroad Company over the Rowley River.

1889:

  • The Rowley Center Post Office, a Queen Anne style building, is constructed on Hammond Street.

1890:

  • The Dodge Sawmill no. 1 is built on Mill Road.

1891:

  • The Frank L. Burke House, a Queen Anne-style house, is built for the owner of the Burke Heel Factory owner Frank L. Burke on Independent Street.

1892:

  • The Joshua B. Stearnes – Frank L. Burke House is built on Railroad Ave.

1894:

  • The John A. Marshall House, a Victorian Eclectic-style house, is built for local businessman and town clerk John A. Marshall on Main Street.
  • Two Queen Anne-style houses are built on Central Street to serve as housing for workers at the Frank L. Shoe Factory.

1895:

  • The Milton Ellsworth – Cornelious F. Haley House, a Queen Anne-style house, is built for Civil War veteran Milton Ellsworth on Main Street.
  • The Moses Pickard – Grover C. Heald House, a Victorian Eclectic-style house, is built for retired farmer Moses Pickard on Main Street.
  • The Willard Bailey – Edwin Adams House, a Queen Anne-style house, is built by carpenter Willard Bailey on Wethersfield Street.

1896:

  • The George E. Daniels Wagon Wheel Factory is built for George E. Daniels on Daniels Road. The factory manufactured wagons, carts, carriages, sleds and pungs in a converted blacksmith shed staffed by three employees.

1897:

  • The William S. Foster House, a Queen Anne-style house, is built on Main Street. for William S. Foster who was the co-owner of the William Foster Shoe Factory on Summer Street.

1899:

  • The Byron Merrill House is built on Haverhill Street.
  • The Charles Mooney House, a Colonial Revival-style house, is built for Charles Mooney who was a partner in the Mooney and Richardson Leather Heel Factory on Main Street.

1901:

  • The Rowley Civil War Memorial, a granite obelisk, is erected on Main Street.

1902:

  • The Rowley Town Hall, a Colonial Revival-style building, is constructed on Main Street.

1904:

  • The Center Elementary School House, a Colonial Revival-style building, is constructed on Central Street.
  • The Mooney and Richardson Leather Heel Factory on the corner of Main and Railroad Avenue is destroyed in a fire. The factory is relocated and rebuilt on Hammond Street that same year.

1907:

  • The Bean’s Crossing – Route 1A Bridge is built over the Boston Maine Railroad on Route 1A.

1909:

  • The Fenno Mansion, a Colonial Revival-style building, is constructed on what is now Mansion Drive. The house was later sold in the 1950s and converted into a nursing home known as the Sea View Nursing Home.

1916:

  • The Glen Mill is destroyed in a fire.

1919:

  • The Rowley Civil War Monument is erected on Main Street.

1920:

  • The Glen Mills Grist Mill – Jewel Mill is built on Glen Street on the former site of the fulling mill.
  • The Dodge Sawmill no. 2 is constructed on Mill Road.

1927:

  • The Mooney and Richardson Leather Heel Factory on Hammond Street is destroyed in a fire. The factory was rebuilt on a smaller scale on Railroad Avenue.

1930:

  • The First Fulling Mill Marker is erected on Route 1 to mark the site of the First Fulling Mill and the Old Stone Arch Bridge.
  • The Ezekiel Rogers School, a Colonial Revival-style building, is constructed on Wethersfield Street. It originally serves as a school before being converted into a public library in 1966.

1939:

  • The First, Second and Third Meetinghouses Marker is erected on Central Street.

1940:

  • The Jewel Mill is built on the site of the former fulling mill. The mill is powered by a water wheel and turbine to crush and polish stones to be used in jewelry.

1941:

  • The Rowley and Ipswich sections of Plum Island are purchased by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and become part of the Parker Wildlife Refuge.

1950:

  • The Gumdrop House Candy Store, a unique dome-shaped roadside commercial building, is constructed on the Newburyport Turnpike.
  • By the mid 20th century, the population of Rowley is 2,000.

1954

  • The Agawam diner, a Fodero diner car, is built on the Newburyport Turnpike.

2000:

  • The population of Rowley is 5,500.

2009:

  • The Rowley Massachusetts Revolutionary War Memorial, a granite plaque, is erected on Main Street.

2020:

  • The population of Rowley is 6,161.

Sources:
Gage, Thomas. The History of Rowley. Ferdinand Andre’vs, 1840.
SWP No. 076: John Jackson, Sr.” Salem Witch Trials Documentary and Transcription Project, salem.lib.virginia.edu/n76.html#n76.1
SWP No. 076: John Jackson, Sr.” Salem Witch Trials Documentary and Transcription Project, salem.lib.virginia.edu/n76.html#n76.2
SWP: No. 119: Margaret Scott Executed, September 22, 1692.” Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, salem.lib.virginia.edu/n119.html
SWP No. 102: Mary Post.” Salem Witch Trials Documentary and Transcription Project, salem.lib.virginia.edu/n102.html#n102.1
Macris, Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System
Rowley Reconnaissance Report, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, May 2005 file:///C:/Users/16039/Downloads/rowley-with-map.pdf

About Rebecca Beatrice Brooks

Rebecca Beatrice Brooks is the author and publisher of the History of Massachusetts Blog. Rebecca is a freelance journalist and history lover who got her start in journalism working for small-town newspapers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire after she graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.A. in journalism. Visit this site's About page to find out more about Rebecca.

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