West Newbury, MA

Originally settled as a farming community as part of the neighboring Newbury, West Newbury has grown into an affluent community situated on the Merrimac River, boasting plenty of space for hiking and horse riding.

Between 1820 and the early 1900s, an active Quaker community existed in West Newbury. During the 19th century, West Newbury was renowned for its comb making industry. Beginning in the 1840s, small home-based comb shops gave way to large-scale factories that produced horn combs and hair adornments. The West Newbury Historical Society, a non-profit, maintains the Hills House Museum. The home was built in 1780 and the property contains several outbuildings, one of which is a cobbler’s shop. Long Hill Orchard, a community based farm down the road, has been active since 1896.

In 1952, Julian D. Steele became the first African-American Town Moderator in Massachusetts when he was elected to the position in West Newbury.

West Newbury and its residents were the models for Popperville, the setting of author Virginia Lee Burton’s children’s story “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.” The town hall where the story ends is patterned after West Newbury’s Old Town Hall.