In 1634, the ship “Mary and John” left the Thames River in England carrying John Parker, James Noyes, and other men, women and children bound for a better life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They wintered in Agawan (today Ipswich) and in the Spring
of 1635 they moved up the Quascacunquen (today the Parker River) and landed east of the present day Parker River Bridge on Route 1A. At the end of the present day Cottage Road is a Memorial Bolder designating this spot, marking Newbury’s beginnings.
The people were farmers depending upon the land and themselves for survival.
The settlers built their settlement and prospered and, as the population increased, Newbury’s boundaries extended from the Parker River outward to the Merrimac River and Artichoke. In 1654 the first navigable bridge, called “Thorlay’s Bridge”,
was built over the Parker River by Richard Thorley. Thorley’s Bridge opened the road for travel from Boston, Ipswich and Salem. Richard Thorley charged a toll, not for humans but for animals. Today, Thurlow’s Bridge is still in existence.
On the upper Parker River, near the falls, industry was started such as the Byfield Woolen Mills on the Falls, Old Tappan Grist Mill on Main Street, Sawmill on River Street and the Larkin-Morrill Mill.
First Settlers Landing – Cottage Street at the Parker River
Coffin House – 16 High Road - built by Tristram Coffin in 1647 as an ordinary.
Brief History of Newbury, Massachusetts