1817 New Ipswich Town Hall Renovation

The original New Ipswich town hall is located on Main Street. Built in 1817, it has some problems. The building began to sag and become unsafe for occupancy. Listed on the National Registry, it needed major repairs.

I spoke with Matt Brown as he waited for a building inspector to check his work. Matt had replaced the rotted sills in the front and sides of the building.

Incidentally the greatest amount of work was performed beneath the building. Matt had to crawl under the building and dig an access tunnel so he could check the entire foundation.

Because of the work lights, a lateral locust tree root started to grow. Matt found a few artifacts from the 1800s, a bottle and the remains of a shoe.

This is a view of a pit located in the corner of the building. It is located beneath the toilet. Imagine who had to empty that.

This is view of the incinerator toilet that I remember using. It was great fun to pee on a red hot heating coil and listen to the sizzle.

In conclusion, I’m happy to see the repairs. Hopefully we can use this building again for town events. Matt has done a great job.