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History of Essex County MassachusettsSelect a City, Town, Village or Township: Our database does not include an historic photo for Essex County Massachusetts, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us! 15% - 35% off all Products ยป The Ready Store Local History Notes:The 1854 Gazetteer of the United States by Thomas Baldwin shows: ESSEX, a county forming the N. E. extremity of Massachusetts, has an area of about 500 square miles. It is bounded on the E. by the Atlantic, and on the S. E. by Massachusetts bay, and is traversed by the Merrimack and Ipswich rivers. It has a great extent of seacoast and many fine bays which afford excellent harbors. A large portion of the great wealth of the inhabitants of the seaboard towns, is invested in commerce and the fisheries. The interior towns are manufacturing and agricultural. Until within the last few years the manufacture of leather and shoes were almost the only branches of industry; but recently several steam cotton mills erected in Lawrence, Salem, and Newburyport, have contributed very much to the industrial prospects of the county. The surface is generally rough and rocky, and the soil hard, but well cultivated, and productive in some districts. Indian corn, potatoes, and grass are among the staples in 1850 this county produced 158,264 bushels of corn; 339,423 of potatoes; 57,968 1/2 tons of hay, and 560,789 pounds of butter. There were 10 cotton and 13 woollen factories, 1 manufactory of woollen shawls, 1 of white-lead, 6 of glue; 61 currying establishments, 13 chandleries, 394 boot and shoe manufactories, 4 iron foundries, 11 machine shops, 3 flour mills, 10 grist mills, 1 rolling mill, 16 saw and planing mills, 25 tobacco, 2 india-rubber and 8 morocco factories, 1 piano-forte manufactory, 26 ship-yards, 7 ship-smithing establishments, 101 tanneries and 5 mast and spar manufactories. It contained 168 churches, 21 newspaper offices; 15,574 pupils attending public schools, and 2409 attending academies and other schools. The Merrimack river is navigable for sloops of 200 tons to Haverhill in this county. Essex is traversed by railroads connecting Boston with Gloucester, Portsmouth, Portland, and Manchester, and several short lines partly intersect it. Organized in 1642. Seats of justice, Salem, Ipswich, and Newburyport. Pop., 131,300. Local History and Genealogy Links: |
Massachusetts Facts: Essex County Facts: Seat: Lawrence, Newburyport and SalemEstablished: 1643 Formed from: Original County
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