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• Address: 87 Perkins Row
  Topsfield, MA 01983
  978-887-9264
• Hours: Office and Gift Shop: Weekdays, Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
  Weekends and Monday holidays,
  May 1-October 31, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and
  November 1-April 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  Trails: Open dawn to dusk, Tuesday-Sunday and Monday holidays.
• Admission: $4 for nonmember adults; $3 for nonmember children (3-12) and seniors
• Website: www.massaudubon.org
• Map: Map

• Bradley Palmer State Park
  This 721-acre former estate features pine needled paths, acres of sunny rolling meadows and spectacular rhododendrons which line old carriage roads.
• Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
  Massachusetts Audubon's largest sanctuary, this property covers 2,800 acres of diverse habitats, including fields, vernal pools, forests, swamps, islands, eskers, and eight miles of the Ipswich River.
• Topsfield Historical Society
  c. 1683 Parson Capen House and c. 1710 restored Joseph Gould Barn.

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Topsfield History

Topsfield’s distinctive inland rural landscape was instrumental in shaping the history of the community from the earliest use of the area by Native Americans through the long tradition of agricultural land use that continues today. The rich agricultural 18th and 19th century farming history and the estates that were established on those farms tell the story of Topsfield’s historical development. Members of the Pawtucket group of Native Americans are likely to have traveled and camped along the Ipswich River and Howlett Brook. European settlement occurred in the area in 1634 on land grants that were part of Ipswich and Salem. The town of Topsfield was incorporated in 1650. The first meetinghouse was built in 1658 north of the present center. The shift to the present center began in the 18th century when the Congregational Church constructed its third meetinghouse on what is now the Common in 1702. The fifth and current meetinghouse was constructed in 1842 and the Methodist-Episcopal Church was relocated in 1853. The advent of the railroad also in 1853 helped to fuel the emergence of a commercial center here.

As in most parts of Essex County, particularly inland towns, agriculture was the early economic base and continued in Topsfield throughout three centuries. In the early 19th century farmers raised livestock, ran slaughter houses and maintained orchards and cider mills. The small rural shoe shops on many of the farms evolved from a cottage industry into four moderate-sized shoe establishments in the mid-19th century with two located at the village center. By the late 19th century, agriculture – particularly dairy farming – resumed its position as the mainstay of the local economy. The Essex Agricultural Society (EAS), established in 1818, was an important force in promoting agriculture. By 1910 Topsfield was the permanent location of the Society on the old Treadwell farm, now known as the Topsfield Fair Grounds. The Essex County Co- operative Society was founded in 1917 opposite the EAS on the Newburyport Turnpike (Route 1). Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries many rural retreats were established by wealthy industrialists. As a group, these rural retreat proprietors became an important stabilizing factor in farming and in land preservation in Topsfield.

Significant transportation routes followed Native American trails. The east-west routes were well established in the 1600s along Washington Street to Ipswich Rd. and along High Street (Rt. 97). The major north-south route, the well-known Newburyport Turnpike (Rt. 1), opened in 1804. Stage travel on the turnpike linked Boston and Newburyport until the advent of the Georgetown & Danvers Railroad in 1853. Railroad service through Topsfield was discontinued in the 1950s. By then Rt. 95 was constructed along the western edge of town. It has affected Topsfield in much the same way as it has other nearby towns, bringing Boston commuters to Topsfield and causing suburban sprawl.

Topsfield’s population in the 1700s was low with only 773 inhabitants at the time of the Revolution and growing to just over 1,000 by 1830. By the end of the 19th century the number of residents increased to about 1,200, only to decline again to about 900 in 1920. However, during the second quarter of the 20th century the population more than doubled to 2,200 in 1955. Rapid growth continued during the latter part of the 20th century, resulting in a population of about 6,000 in 2000. Suburbanization due to accessibility and the attraction of Topsfield’s rural character are reasons for the substantial increase in population.

From TopsfieldReconnaisance Report, Essex County Landscape Inventory, Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory Program (pdf document)

See also:

1985 Massachusetts Historical Commission Reconnaissance Survey Town Report