Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mooring, winter storage, and maintenance of recreational boats, motor and sail, still generate much of the city's income. A Coast Guard station oversees boating activity, especially in the sometimes dangerous tidal currents of the Merrimack River.

At the edge of the Newbury Marshes, delineating Newburyport to the south, an industrial park provides a wide range of jobs. Newburyport is on a major north–south highway, Interstate 95. The outer circumferential highway of Boston, Interstate 495, passes nearby in Amesbury. The Newburyport Turnpike (U.S. Route 1) traverses Newburyport on its way north. The Newburyport/Rockport MBTA commuter rail from Boston's North Station terminates in Newburyport. The earlier Boston and Maine Railroad leading farther north was discontinued, but part of it has been converted into a recreation trail.

History

In 1680 Elizabeth Morse was convicted of witchcraft in Newbury. She was confined to her property unless she was escorted by a clergymen until she died in 1690.

On January 28, 1764, the General Court of Massachusetts passed "An act for erecting part of the town of Newbury into a new town by the name of Newburyport.". The act begins:Whereas the town of Newbury is very large, and the inhabitants of that part of it who dwell by the water-side there, as it is commonly called, are mostly merchants, traders, and artificers, and the inhabitants of the other parts of the town are chiefly husbandmen; by means whereof many difficulties and disputes have arisen in managing their public affairs – Be it enacted ... That part of the said town of Newbury ... be and hereby are constituted and made a separate and distinct town ....

The act was approved by Governor Francis Bernard on February 4, 1764. The new town was the smallest in Massachusetts, covering an area of , and had a population of 2,800 living in 357 homes. There were three shipyards, no bridges, and several ferries, one of which at the foot of Greenleaf Lane, now State Street, carried the Portsmouth Flying Stage Coach, running between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Boston.Currier (1906) pages 5, 27–29.

The town prospered and became a city in 1851. Situated near the mouth of the Merrimack River, it was once a fishing, shipbuilding and shipping center, with an industry in silverware manufacture. In 1792, a bridge was built two miles above the town where the river contained an island.Morse, Jedidiah. (1804). The American gazetteer: exhibiting a full account of the civil divisions, rivers, harbors, Indian tribes, &c. of the American continent, also of the West India and other appendant islands: with a particular description of Louisiana. 2nd edition. Charlestown, Massachusetts: Printed by and for Samuel Etheridge, and Thomas and Andrews. p. 359. The Internet Archive website Merrimack Arms and Brown Manufacturing Company made Southerner Derringer pistols in their Newburyport factory from 1867 to 1873.James, Garry American Rifleman (June 2012) p.88 The sea captains of old Newburyport (as elsewhere in Massachusetts) had participated vigorously in the triangular trade, importing West Indian molasses and exporting rum made from it. The distilleries were located around Market Square near the waterfront. Caldwell's Old Newburyport rum was manufactured locally until 1961.

As a part of the triangle trade, the first leg of which involved the purchase of slaves from West Africa, many Newburyporters were anti-abolitionists. Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1783, and many runaway slaves found refuge in the state. In the early 1800s, around 6000 runaway slaves were living in Newburyport. In 1850, the fugitive slave act was passed, requiring all US states to capture and return runaway slaves. Because of this, runaways had to flee the country or risk returning to slavery. In this era, some white Newburyporters became stops on the Underground Railroad. As a port city and part of the triangle trade, Newburyport's abolitionists were often mariners. Capt. Alexander Graves, for example, smuggled slaves from the South and to Canada.

Newburyport once had a fishing fleet that operated from Georges Bank to the mouth of the Merrimack River. It was a center for privateering during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. Beginning about 1832, it added numerous ships to the whaling fleet. Later, clipper ships were built there. Today, the city gives little hint of its former maritime importance. Notably missing are the docks, which are shown on earlier maps extending into the channel of the Merrimack River, and the shipyards, where the waterfront parking lot is currently located.

George Whitefield, the well-known and influential English preacher who helped inspire the First Great Awakening in America, arrived in Newburyport in September 1740. The revival that followed his labors brought into existence Old South Church, where he was buried after his death in 1770.

The city's historical highlights include:

Historic events: First of many clipper ships built here. First "Tea Party" rebellion to oppose British Tea Tax. First state mint and treasury building. Newburyport Superior Courthouse, the oldest continuously active courthouse in Massachusetts.

The Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank on State Street was founded in 1854 and is one of the oldest banks in the United States still in operation.

Historic houses and museums: Cushing House Museum and Garden () Newburyport Custom House Museum (1835), designed by Robert Mills

Literary interests: Was referred to in the H. P. Lovecraft story, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", as being located near Innsmouth. Lovecraft based his depiction of Innsmouth largely on Newburyport. Subject of the most ambitious community study ever undertaken, the Yankee City project conducted by anthropologist W. Lloyd Warner and his associates

Timeline

1635: Newbury incorporated. 1761: Belleville Congregational Church founded.Daniel Taggart Fiske. An historical discourse commemorative of the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the Belleville Congregational Church, Newburyport, Mass., delivered on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1858. E.P. Dutton & Co., 1859 1764: Newburyport incorporated (formerly part of Newbury). 1772: Marine Society of Newburyport established. 1773 Isaiah Thomas opens "a printing house in King Street." Essex Journal newspaper begins publication. 1790: Population: 4,837. 1793: Impartial Herald newspaper begins publication. 1794 Morning Star newspaper begins publication. Newburyport Woolen Manufacturing Co. established. 1795 Political Gazette newspaper begins publication. Merrimack Bank incorporated. 1797: Newburyport Herald newspaper begins publication. 1799: Newburyport Marine Insurance Co. incorporated. 1801: American Intelligencer newspaper published. 1802: Merrimac Humane Society established. 1803 Merrimack Gazette and New England Repertory newspapers begin publication. Newburyport Female Charitable Society organized. Merrimack Fire and Marine Insurance Co. incorporated. 1804: Political Calendar newspaper begins publication. 1805: Merrimack Magazine begins publication. 1807: Newburyport Gazette newspaper begins publication. 1808: Statesman newspaper begins publication. 1810 Newburyport Mechanick Association and Newburyport Athenaeum incorporated. Independent Whig newspaper begins publication. Merrimack Bible Society organized. 1812: Washington Benevolent Society organized. 1818: Howard Benevolent Society instituted "for the relief of the sick and destitute." 1825: Newburyport Hosiery Co. established. 1829: Newburyport Lyceum organized. 1835 Society for the Relief of Aged Females founded. U.S. Custom House built. 1836 Newburyport Linnean Society and Newburyport Steam Cotton Co. incorporated. Newburyport Silk Co. and Newburyport Ladies' Bethel Society established. 1837: Bartlet Steam Mills incorporated. 1840: Pleasant Street Christian Church organized. 1841: Essex North District Medical Society organized. 1842: James Steam Mills incorporated. 1844: Essex Steam Mills incorporated. 1845: Globe Steam Mills and Ocean Steam Mills incorporated. 1850 Ladies' General Charitable Society instituted. Newburyport Gas Co. incorporated. 1851: June 18: Essex North Musical convention held. 1852: Merrimack Library Association organized. 1854 Newburyport Public Library founded. Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank incorporated. 1855: Newburyport Library Association organized. 1857: Mechanic Library Association incorporated. 1865: Washington Street Methodist Episcopal Church organized. 1869: Merrimack Marine Railway Co. incorporated. 1874: Newburyport Mutual Benefit Association organized. 1877: Antiquarian and Historical Society of Old Newbury established. 1878: Newburyport Athenaeum organized. 1884: Newburyport YMCA incorporated. 1886: Newburyport Society for the Relief of Aged Men incorporated. 1887: Newburyport Electric Light & Power Co. incorporated. 1887: Daily News established. 1890 YWCA of Newburyport incorporated. City Improvement society organized. 1896: Newburyport Choral Union organized. 1904: South End Reading Room Association formed. 1906: Newburyport Homeoepathic Hospital opens. 1917: Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of Newburyport founded. 1968: Newburyport Maritime Society established. 1971: Market Square Historic District added to National Register of Historic Places. 1971-1979: Downtown undergoes major renewal and historic preservation effort. 1991: Actors Studio of Newburyport founded. 1994: Sister city relationship established with Bura, Taita-Taveta District, Kenya.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and (20.77%) is water.

Geographic history

The city is part of Massachusetts's North Shore; Newburyport was laid out on the elevated south bank of the Merrimack River between the river and Newbury marshes. The shipyards, now boatyards (and still vigorously active), extended along the bank at the edge of the river. They were connected by Merrimac Street, which ends upriver where the bank merges into bluffs covered with pine forest. Colonial residences extend up the bank from Merrimac Street to High Street running parallel to it near the top of the ridge. The homes of the seafaring entrepreneurs line High Street. Many feature widow's walks, structures on the roof where residents could watch for the return of sailing vessels. Nearly every home maintains a splendid flower garden, most dating to colonial times. Various cross streets, such as State Street, Green Street, and Market Street, connect Merrimac Street and High Street. The top of the ridge proved an ideal location for later institutions, such as Newburyport High School and nearby Anna Jaques Hospital. The ridge drops more sharply to the marsh on the other side. Along its margin a third parallel street developed, Low Street.