Clam Shacks

For centuries, clamming was big business in Newburyport.

Joppa Clammers, ca. 1890 – 1899, The Snow Collection, The Museum of Old Newbury

Clam Shacks Water Street Near Flat Iron Point Newburyport MA

During the 1700s, 1800s and the beginning of the 20th century, clamming was a huge part of the South End neighborhood called Joppa.

Clam shacks, Water Street near Flat Iron Point, The Snow Collection, The Museum of Old Newbury

With the arrival of trucking and the automobile, clams gained wide popularity and the clammers of the area were able to make a significant amount of money.

Clammers, The Snow Collection, The Museum of Old Newbury

Clam Shacks

There were at least a dozen clam shanties along Water Street where residents shipped as many as five tons of shucked clams from Newburyport to Boston, New York and other cities every day. The pollutions of the Merrimack river by the 1920s lead to the closing of the clamming beds, and the collapse of the industry brought economic devastation to the local community. Most of the clam shanties were knocked into the river by cars or washed away by storms. Only one clam shanty remains today. ~ History from the Newburyport Clipper City Rail Trail (the plaque on Water Street)