NEWBURYPORT, a city of north-eastern Massachusetts, U.S.A., one of the county seats of Essex county; 38 m. N.N.E. of Boston, on the southern bank of the Merrimack river, 3 m. from the ocean. It is on Federal highway I and is served by the Boston and Maine railroad and coasting steamers. Pop. (1920) 15,618; in 193o it was 15,084. It is an important manufac turing city, with a very diversified output, valued in 1927 at $12,931,366. The commerce of its port in 1925 amounted to tons, consisting entirely of receipts of coal, gasolene, fuel oil and lumber. There are statues of George Washington and of William Lloyd Garrison (by J. Q. A. Ward and by David M. French respectively) and many houses dating back to the 17th century, among them the stone "garrison" house in the form of a cross, with walls 4 ft. thick. Other houses of interest are the birthplace of William Lloyd Garrison, the homes of "Lord" Tim othy Dexter and Caleb Cushing, and the Tracy mansion (1771), now part of the public library building. Indian Hill farm, birth
place of the journalist Ben Perley Poore, is 3 m. W. of the city. The Putnam Free school, now part of the public-school system, was founded early in the 19th century by an endowment from Oliver Putnam. The high school for girls (opened in 1843) was a pioneer institution. Newbury, including the site of Newbury port, was settled in 1635 under the leadership of the Rev. Thomas Parker (1595-1677) who had lived in Newbury, England. In 1764 a tract of 647 ac. was set off and incorporated as the town of Newburyport, which (with enlarged boundaries) was chartered as a city in 1851. In the early part of the 19th century New buryport was one of the most flourishing commercial centres of New England. Fishing, whaling and ship-building were the prin cipal interests until the Civil War, and its clipper ships were among the fastest and the best known on the seas. During the Revolution and the War of 1812 it sent out many privateers.