Welcome to Topsfield

Topsfield is a town in Essex County about 25 miles north of Boston, set along the Ipswich River in the center of the county. It pairs a historic Town Common and the 1683 Parson Capen House with farmland, riverside estates, Mass Audubon's Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Topsfield Fair each fall.

About Topsfield

English colonists settled the area in the 1630s and early 1640s, when it was known as New Meadows. It was renamed Topsfield in 1648, after Toppesfield in England, and incorporated as a town in 1650. For generations it was a farming town with a 19th-century shoemaking trade. The Newburyport Turnpike, now U.S. Route 1, was built through town from 1803 to 1805, and the railroad arrived in 1854.

In the early 1900s country estates went up along the Ipswich River, including Boston attorney Bradley Palmer's 1902 stone mansion, and Palmer left much of his land to the state between 1937 and 1944. After World War II, Route 1 and I-95 made Topsfield a commuter town for Greater Boston. Topsfield borders Ipswich to the north, Hamilton and Wenham to the east, Danvers and Middleton to the south, and Boxford to the west.

Getting Around

Topsfield has no commuter rail station. Hamilton/Wenham, North Beverly, and Ipswich stations on the MBTA Newburyport/Rockport Line are a short drive away, with direct trains to North Station in Boston, and there are no MBTA bus routes in town. U.S. Route 1 runs through town from southwest to northeast, Route 97 crosses the center as High Street, and I-95 passes through the southwestern corner, with exits in neighboring Danvers and Boxford. The Topsfield Linear Common, a rail trail on the old railroad line and part of the Border to Boston Trail, runs from Wenham through the town center and connects to the Danvers Rail Trail.

Topsfield Real Estate

Topsfield real estate ranges from First Period houses to country estates and 20th-century homes. The 1683 Parson Capen House is joined by other houses from the late 1600s and early 1700s, including saltboxes, followed by five-bay Federal homes, Greek Revival and Italianate houses from the mid-1800s, and scattered Queen Anne and foursquare houses from around 1900.

The Topsfield Town Common District, listed on the National Register in 1976, covers the triangular greens at the center along with the 1842 Congregational church, the 1873 Town Hall with its clock tower, and the 1935 library. The River Road-Cross Street Historic District, listed in 2005, takes in farms, farmsteads, and estate houses along the Ipswich River, including the Tudor Revival Cummings Estate. Areas include Topsfield Center around the Common, the River Road and Cross Street farm area, and the Route 1 corridor, the town's main commercial strip.

Living in Topsfield

The Topsfield Fair, run by the Essex Agricultural Society at the fairgrounds on Route 1, takes over town each fall in early October. The society dates to 1818, the fair has been held in Topsfield since 1910, and the town calls it America's oldest agricultural fair. Beside the Common, the Parson Capen House, a National Historic Landmark, is run by the Topsfield Historical Society along with the restored Gould Barn, and the society hosts a Strawberry Festival each June.

Mass Audubon's Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary on Perkins Row covers nearly 2,000 acres, with about 12 miles of trails, boardwalks, and canoeing on the Ipswich River. Bradley Palmer State Park, more than 700 acres shared with Hamilton, has trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding, and Palmer's 1902 mansion is now Willowdale Estate, an event venue. Willowdale State Forest off Ipswich Road adds about 40 miles of trails.

Questions About Topsfield

What kinds of homes are in Topsfield?

Topsfield has First Period houses and saltboxes from the late 1600s and early 1700s, Federal and Greek Revival homes around the Common, farmsteads and estate houses along River Road and Cross Street, and 20th-century homes on the roads between them.

How do you get to Boston from Topsfield?

Topsfield has no train station, but Hamilton/Wenham, North Beverly, and Ipswich stations on the MBTA Newburyport/Rockport Line are a short drive away. By car, Route 1 heads south to I-95 and Route 128.

When is the Topsfield Fair?

The Topsfield Fair runs each fall in early October at the fairgrounds on Route 1. It is run by the Essex Agricultural Society, founded in 1818, and has been held in Topsfield since 1910.

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

Photos: PerriAndMe, CC BY-SA 4.0 and GMushinsky, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.