15 Best Things to Do in Amesbury (MA)

Where the Powwow River flows into the lower Merrimack, Amesbury is a delightful little town in northeastern Massachusetts.

Amesbury has had a strong shipbuilding reputation since its early days, and you can pick up that heritage at Lowell's Boat Shop, which still handcrafts wooden canoes and canoes.

During the industrial era, the community became a center for hat making and automobile production. Old brick factories of the time dotted the downtown area, and are now home to a variety of interesting stores and service businesses.

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), the famous poet and abolitionist, lived most of his life in Amesbury, and his home, now a museum, has barely changed since he lived here.

1. Amesbury Center

With its stunning tree-lined Main Street and preserved mill buildings surrounding the Powwow River, downtown Amesbury is worth as much time as you can give it.

The center is built on hilly terrain, with abundant local streets and businesses, many of which have been around for decades.

A small circle contains galleries, boutiques, antique shops, a craft brewery and a dizzying variety of restaurants, from wood-fired flatbread pizza to white-tablecloth Italian restaurants.

Along the powwow's millrace trail, your curiosity will lead you to the Millyard, where a box of old textile mills surrounds a beautiful outdoor space for summer live performances and outdoor movie screenings.

Amesbury has a bustling social calendar, including a big party in June to kick off the summer season and start Amesbury Day.

2. John Greenleaf Whittier House

In Amesbury, you can visit the home of John Greenleaf Whittier, where the poet and abolitionist wrote much of his poetry and prose, including his beloved poem Snowbound (1866).

Built in 1811 and purchased by Whittier in 1836, the John Greenleaf Whittier House served as a home for his mother, aunt, and sister Eliza, who remembers herself as a poet and vocalist.

Much of the building's original furniture, decorations, and structure remain as they were at the time of Whittier's death, thanks in part to the efforts of his great-nephew, who added a second story to the eastern half of the house. here? The beginning of the twentieth century.

The house is open to the public on Saturdays from May to October, and the Amesbury Hat Museum was recently added to the new second floor tour.

3. Lowell’s Boat Shop & Museum

This operating boat shop on the Merrimack River dates back to 1793, and continues to craft traditional boats and canoes using these methods by seven generations of the same family.

Lowell's Boat Shop holds a unique place in New England history as the birthplace of the fishing line, developed by founder Simon Lowell (1745-1830), and improved by his grandson Hiram Lowell (1814-1897).

In the 19th century, the complex housed an assembly line that is believed to have influenced Henry Ford's mass production methods.

For example, more than 2,000 boats were hand-built here in 1911 alone. You can glimpse more than two centuries of history in these buildings, play with the ship's venerable knees and support beams, and see traditional skills in action.

The store is open for guided tours, and hosts a variety of programs and events during the warmer months.

4. Bartlett Museum

The City Museum is housed in a charming old building that was originally Bartlett's School, opened in 1870 and converted into a museum in 1968 to celebrate Amesbury's tercentenary.

The attraction is open at noon, Friday through Sunday, Memorial Day weekend and through Labor Day weekend. The History Room includes Native American artifacts, a timeline of local history, and reproductions of Victorian parlors and colonial kitchens.

In other rooms you will discover cabinets displaying natural history specimens, details of Amesbury's military heritage and a preserved 19th-century schoolroom.

There is a carriage house on the grounds with original Amesbury-made farm implements, machinery, carts and wagons.

5. Cider Hill Farm

Started in 1978 and spanning three generations of the Cook family, Cider Hill Farm is a picture-perfect setting on a green hillside. Its 145 acres are grown using organic and non-GMO practices, with 90% of the electricity self-generated through wind turbines and solar panels.

You can go for a long picking season from April (tulips) to the holiday season (Christmas trees). The peak is summer and fall, with berries, wildflowers, peaches, apples and pumpkins, while hay is part of the experience.

The farm shop is filled with delicious, home-grown and grown foods, and has a beloved bakery for its cider cakes.

Children will love the farm and can use the play equipment, meet the goats, feed the chickens and participate in various activities.

6. Macy-Colby House

Thomas Massey (1608-1682), Amesbury's first clerk, built this historic house around 1649 before early European settlers on Nantucket.

In 1654, he sold it to Anthony Colby, a prominent public figure in Amesbury, and Moses Colby (1822–1901), the first of nine generations of the Colby family to live in the house, and donated the property to the Bartlett Cemetery Society in 1899. Work .

On Saturdays in summer, you can visit this wonderfully preserved early period residence, which was extensively altered in the mid-18th century.

Among many other interesting items, the house contains a Whittier Quaker hat, and a cradle that belonged to Amesbury resident Susannah North Martin, a victim of the Salem Witch Trials, who was executed in 1692.

7. Chain bridge

The oldest continuously occupied long-span bridge in the country is located at the south end of Main Street that crosses the Merrimack River into Newburyport.

There had been a long-span bridge since the construction of the wooden truss bridge in 1792. Soon afterward, in 1810, it was replaced by the first iron chain suspension bridge in New England.

The structure was demolished in 1827, and the reconstruction became a model for many other bridges in the area. The bridge was 225 feet long, was rebuilt in 1910 as a replica of its predecessor, and most recently underwent several renovations in 2003.

8. Lake Gardner

Spanning 80 acres on the Powwow River, located within walking distance of the Amesbury Center, it has been a valuable recreational asset since the 1800s.

There is a small beach on the south shore, with a shallow swimming area, and views extending along the length of the lake. On the east side there is a mixture of town-owned public parks and protected areas, accessed by a trail that starts along the beach.

The first farm, Bates Farm, has more than a half-mile of shoreline on Lake Gardner, with secluded coves for swimming or landing kayaks and canoes.

9. Amesbury Riverwalk Trail

This well-maintained paved trail, just over a mile long, begins in the center of the Lower Millyard and follows the Powwow River off Route 110 to Carriagetown Market.

The Amesbury River Walk passes through a quiet corner of the city, crossing just one street (Rocky Hill Road), on the right of way of the old Salisbury-Amesbury Branch of the Eastern Railway, built in 1848.

At several points you'll see the Powwow River through the trees, and there are several easy access points, including a parking lot at the east trailhead.

10. Brewery Silvaticus

It seems fitting that one of Amesbury's 19th-century industrial buildings should be a brewery. You'll find it at the foot of a tall octagonal chimney visible across Amesbury, with a beer garden leading down to the River Bow.

Less IPA-heavy than many of the area's craft breweries, Brewery Silvaticus specializes in traditional European beers like German lagers and Belgian farmhouse beers.

When we made this list, there were two Pilsners, a Kellerbier, three Lagers, a Belgian-style Tripel, and the brewery's signature Black Lager. Food trucks are often stationed outside, and there is a menu of small bites, such as pastries, hummus, cold cuts and cheddar cheese sticks.

11. Amesbury Industrial Supply Co.

Visiting a hardware store may not be high on your list of tourist activities, but there are some hardware stores in Amesbury Industrial Supply Co.

It is part of the Millyard, and is located in a former woolen mill dating from 1825, built as Mill 2 by the Salisbury Manufacturing Company.

As you browse the store, it's worth remembering that the hand-dug channel of the Powwow River ran beneath your feet in the basement, allowing for two 24-foot water wheels. You will gain strength.

It is reassuring to know that the store today is powered by solar panels on the roof. People Amesbury Industrial Supply Company Swear by was founded here in 1973 and is known for having an extensive inventory, stocking or ordering of any tool, supplier or component you may need.

12. R. E. Kimball & Company

A regular sight at farmers markets in northeastern Massachusetts, R.E. Kimball & Company makes any kind of jam, jelly or fruit preserve you can imagine.

Housed in a clapboard building across the street from an old 1877 mill, the company has been in business since 1955.

The range includes more than 100 products, from apricot jam to apple cinnamon jelly, all made using traditional recipes, methods and ingredients, including pure cane sugar. Factory and outlet stores are open during normal business hours from Monday to Friday.

13. Maudslay State Park

Take a short hop across the Merrimack River to Newburyport, and you'll be on the old turn-of-the-century estate of Frederick Strong Moseley (1852-1938).

He hired the famous landscape architect, Martha Brooks Hutchison (1871-1959), to design the magnificent grounds, which contain impressive remains of rhododendrons, azaleas, lilacs, and fruit trees, as well as grand walkways and stone bridges.

Come in early or mid-summer when the park is bursting with color. The 500-acre property has 16 miles of hiking, biking, horseback riding and cross-country skiing trails.

An exciting feature is one of the largest natural stands of mountain laurel trees in Massachusetts.

14. Amesbury Friends Meeting House

The thriving Amesbury congregation of the Society of Friends is the oldest congregation in the area, dating back to 1657. At that time, meetings were held in New Hampshire to avoid persecution by Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The current active Greek Revival building, located slightly west of downtown Amesbury, is the fourth meeting house, completed in 1851.

John Greenleaf Whittier, a practicing Quaker, was the driving force behind its construction. His seat was secured inside, and covered with boards.

This wood-frame building is larger than a traditional meeting house, reflecting its importance as a venue for regional quarterly meetings until 1962.

The main room has partitions that can be adjusted with pulleys, depending on the occasion, so services were attended by the entire congregation, whereas in past business meetings the sexes were separated.

15. Amesbury Days

Coinciding with the Fourth of July holiday, Amesbury Days includes more than a week of activities, events and celebrations beginning in late June.

This tradition can be traced back to 1899, when the city's mill workers were granted a vacation that they spent at Lake Gardner. Later Amesbury days included excursions to beaches from Hampton to Salisbury.

Now, there's a packed schedule of events, including live music performances at the Millyard, open houses, yard sales around town, a block party, a beer and music picnic, a kids' night out at Heritage Park, a 5K run and a 4th race. July, Pride celebration ends with fireworks and music at Woodsom Coe Ranch.