Welcome to Essex

Essex is a small coastal town in Essex County, northeast of Boston on the edge of Cape Ann, where the Essex River winds through the Great Marsh to Essex Bay. It pairs a shipbuilding history that goes back to 1668 with antique shops and seafood spots along Main Street, salt marsh reservations, and Chebacco Lake.

About Essex

Essex was settled in the 1630s as part of Ipswich, in an area known as Chebacco. Chebacco became its own parish of Ipswich in the late 1600s, and its minister, the Reverend John Wise, served from the early 1680s until 1725. The town was incorporated as Essex in 1819.

In 1668 Ipswich set aside an acre of common land at Chebacco for building vessels, and that shipyard is still used for launches today. By the 1850s more than a dozen shipyards lined the Essex River, and Essex built many of the wooden fishing schooners that sailed out of Gloucester. The trade faded as engines and steel took over and largely ended around World War II. Essex borders Ipswich to the north, Gloucester to the east, Manchester-by-the-Sea to the south, and Hamilton to the west, with Essex Bay at its northeast corner.

Getting Around

Essex has no commuter rail station. The nearest stops on the MBTA Newburyport/Rockport Line are in Ipswich, Hamilton/Wenham, Manchester, and West Gloucester, all with direct trains to North Station in Boston. Cape Ann Transportation Authority Route 5 buses connect Essex with West Gloucester and Gloucester, and the seasonal Ipswich Essex Explorer shuttle links Essex with the Ipswich train station and Crane Beach on summer weekends. Route 133 runs through town as Main Street and across the causeway, Route 22 ends at Route 133 in the center, and Route 128 is reached via School Street in Manchester or Route 133 in Gloucester.

Essex Real Estate

Essex real estate includes houses from the late 1600s through the 20th century. Most early homes are two-and-a-half-story, five-bay Colonial and Federal houses with center entries, and the mid-1800s brought gable-front, three-bay houses with Greek Revival trim, especially in South Essex. Cogswell, Winthrop, and upper Pickering streets were laid out for houses in that era.

Essex has no historic district, but five properties are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including Cogswell's Grant, the David Burnham House on Pond Street, and the 1893 Shingle Style Town Hall and library. Areas include Essex Center, South Essex across the causeway, Essex Falls along the upper river, the Chebacco Lake area, and Conomo Point, a longtime summer cottage community on the Essex River.

Living in Essex

The Essex Shipbuilding Museum on Main Street tells the story of the town's wooden shipbuilding, with a riverside shipyard where boats are still built and launched and the 1927 Essex-built schooner Evelina M. Goulart. Main Street is known for its antique shops and seafood restaurants, and Woodman's of Essex, on the causeway since 1914, says Chubby Woodman fried the first clam there in 1916. Cogswell's Grant on Spring Street, run by Historic New England, is a farmhouse begun in 1728 that holds a folk art collection and opens for seasonal tours.

The Trustees' Stavros Reservation on Island Road climbs Whites Hill for views over the Great Marsh, and the Crane Wildlife Refuge protects Choate Island and other islands in the Essex River estuary, reached by boat. Essex County Greenbelt's Allyn Cox Reservation on Eastern Avenue has marsh trails and a paddle launch, and the river is a regular route for kayaks and boat tours. Centennial Grove, a town park with a residents-only beach, sits on Chebacco Lake, and the Manchester-Essex Woods add a large stretch of woodland trails.

Questions About Essex

What kinds of homes are in Essex?

Essex has Colonial and Federal houses from the late 1600s and 1700s, mid-1800s Greek Revival homes in Essex Center and South Essex, summer cottages at Conomo Point, homes near Chebacco Lake, and 20th-century houses on the roads between the villages.

How do you get to Boston from Essex?

Essex has no train station, but Ipswich, Hamilton/Wenham, Manchester, and West Gloucester stations on the MBTA Newburyport/Rockport Line are a short drive away, with direct trains to North Station. By car, Route 128 is reached via School Street in Manchester or Route 133 in Gloucester.

Was the fried clam invented in Essex?

That is the local story. Woodman's of Essex says Chubby Woodman fried the first clam at his roadside stand on the causeway in 1916. Clamming has been part of life in Essex since colonial times.

To see homes for sale in Essex, browse the listings below. Thinking of buying or selling in Essex? Call (617) 848-9616 or get a free home valuation. Essex is part of our North of Boston guide.

Photos: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 and John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.