Incorporated in 1668, Amesbury was a significant mill town from its earliest beginnings, producing everything from textiles and carriages to a machine that made nails. Amesbury flourished as the primary carriagemanufacturing town of the United States until modern technology demanded the manufacture of automobiles. Carriage factories were transformed into automobile factories as Amesbury kept the pace with the changing times. This wonderful new history covers much of the late 19th century and continues through the 1960s. Amesbury has, over the years, drawn many people inside its borders; both Robert Frost and Currier (of the Currier and Ives Prints) had summer homes in Amesbury. Natives of Amesbury include the famous poet Harriet Prescott Spofford; Josiah Bartlett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; and Susan Fowler, the model for the Currier and Ives
print of the Bloomer Costume. John Greenleaf Whittier, although born in Haverhill, spent most of his adult life in Amesbury. Whittier found much of his inspiration here for writing poetry, including the well-known poem, "Snow Bound."