Town Edition
Essex County
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Look at the seal at the top of this page. It has said the same thing since 1895: The Birthplace of American Independence 1687. On August 22 of that year the royal governor announced a property tax with no elected assembly behind it, and on August 23 the Ipswich town meeting voted that no taxes shall be levied upon the Subjects without consent of the Assembly chosen by the Freeholders. That room still exists. It meets on the second Tuesday in May, every registered voter in town is a member of it, and it still votes the budget. On May 19, 2026, 1,537 Ipswich residents also filled eight elected seats and approved a debt exclusion for a new public safety building by 302 votes, which tells you what a single ballot is worth in a town election here. This guide shows you where the rooms are and how to get into them.
Ipswich at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Essex. Ipswich covers 32.105 square miles of land and another 10.309 of water at the mouth of the Ipswich River, about 429 people to the square mile, with Rowley to the north, Boxford to the west and Topsfield, Hamilton, Essex and Gloucester to the south.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Brendan Sweeney.
- Schools: Ipswich Public Schools, about 1,509 students across four schools, led by Superintendent Brian J. Blake.
- The lights: Ipswich owns its own electric utility, and the Select Board sits as its Electric Light Commissioners.
How Ipswich’s Government Works
Ipswich runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Ipswich is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Manager to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Manager.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Ipswich is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
5 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Manager.
Town Manager
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
7 members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Manager and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Monday of the month in Room A at Town Hall, 25 Green Street. When the Monday is a holiday the meeting moves to the following Tuesday. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center.
- Town Meeting: the by-law sets the Annual Town Meeting for the second Tuesday in May, and Ipswich usually calls a Special Town Meeting in the late fall. Town Moderator Jim Engel presides. Special Town Meetings are set for September 8 and October 20, 2026 at Ipswich High and Middle School, 134 High Street.
- Town elections: the charter puts the annual town election within thirty days of the annual town meeting. The last one was Tuesday May 19, 2026, when 1,537 ballots were cast, and a Special Town Election is set for September 22, 2026 at the YMCA, 110 County Road.
- State and federal elections: the 2026 State Primary is September 1 and the State Election is November 3, both at the YMCA, 110 County Road.
Explore the Ipswich Edition
- Town Manager’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Ipswich History1634, the 1687 vote, and the mills
- DemographicsWho lives in Ipswich
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataIpswich schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Essex County, and that includes Ipswich. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Ipswich
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, licences and the electric utility go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and the bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Monday in Room A at Town Hall, 25 Green Street, and every agenda goes up in advance on the town’s Agenda Center.
- Know your members. All five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. Ipswich Select Board meetings open with Citizen Queries, a standing slot at the top of the agenda for residents. You do not need an invitation and you do not need to be eighteen.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works at 978-356-6612, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 25 Green Street, Ipswich, MA 01938. Main line 978-356-6600, Town Manager’s office 978-356-6609, Select Board office 978-356-6604.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-356-6677, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at ipswichma.gov.
- Public schools: Ipswich Public Schools, 1 Lord Square, 978-356-2935, ipsk12.net.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak during Citizen Queries at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.