Bag Lunch Series: Saving the Rooster

Gordon Harris, Ipswich Town Historian

The gilded weathercock at the First Church in Ipswich has graced the steeple of every church at that location since the middle of the 18th century and was likely created by Deacon Shem Drowne (1683-1744), America’s first documented weathervane maker. In 1915, when the steeple was set afire by lightning, the Fire Department’s new steamer was able to extinguish the blaze but the damaged rooster was removed. Photographer George Dexter created and sold “Save the Rooster” postcards to pay for the cost of returning the rooster to the church steeple.

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