Kamon Farm

Sweeping Fields & Wide Trails

Kamon Farm | Ipswich

Property Description & History

Open fields, wooded uplands and low-lying wetlands host a diversity of wildlife and offer extraordinary views and hiking trails which connect to Turkey Hill Conservation Area.

Expanding along both sides of Pineswamp Road, this conservationcarea straddles two watersheds and helps protect importantcdrinking water supplies. Beneath the northern portion, groundwater flows to Bull Brook Reservoir in the Parker River watershed.

To the south, water drains to the Mile Lane Wells in the IpswichcRiver watershed. Portions of this land are used for haying, and agricultural use will continue to be compatible with drinking water supply goals.

On the east side of the property, trails lead from open fields to wooded uplands and connect to a
broader trail network on Turkey Hill Conservation Area and other conserved land. The all-access portion of the trail leads to a bench with sweeping views across open fields.

At the time of European contact, Pawtucket people who became known as the Agawam Indians were growing corn on the lower slopes of Turkey Hill and exploiting the subsistence resources of the nearby wetlands and pine groves. They canoed to Ipswich Bay and Plum Island Sound via nearby Bull Brook to Rowley River.

The Kamon Farm area was periodically occupied by Indigenous people since PaleoIndian times circa 14,000 years ago, when bands of hunter-gatherers met near here for the cooperative hunting of caribou. Stone artifacts from archaeological sites on and around Turkey Hill are housed at the Harvard Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Cambridge.

Trails

1.1 miles of easy terrain with connecting trails

Conservation History

Read the Kamon Farm Conservation Chronicle

The farm has long been a part of the agricultural history of Essex County. Simon & Agnes Kamon immigrated from Poland in 1905 and farmed this land with their family, running a dairy for years.
Kamon family member Dianne and her husband, Bob Perry, took over the farm from 2003 until 2021, when they sold it to Greenbelt to ensure it would be protected forever.

Greenbelt worked with the Perry family and the Town of Ipswich to conserve this land. Funding came from the Ipswich Open Space Bond Program, Commonwealth of Massachusetts LAND Grant Program, Institution for Savings Conservation Fund, and private individuals and foundations.

Location

Pineswamp Road, Ipswich

GPS Location

Latitude 42.67488 Longitude -70.86977

Directions & Parking

Take Linebrook Road from downtown Ipswich at the insection with Central Street. Follow Linebrook Road for about 1.5 miles. Take a left onto Pineswamp Road and stay on it for just over a mile. Kamon Farm is on your right.