Alliance Park

Amesbury’s Alliance Park is where the 38-gun Frigate Alliance was launched in April 1778.  Commanders of the Alliance included John Paul Jones and John Barry, the Father of the American Navy.

The park marks the Western end of what was originally called Salisbury Point, now a primarily residential neighborhood located along the shore of the Merrimac River between the Powow River and the Chain Bridge.  Now called “Shore Point,” the neighborhood was annexed to Amesbury in 1886. It is also the site of Lowell’s Boat Shop, deemed a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service.

To the right  is the Powow River and the historic Goodwin’s Ferry site (1654) , where George Washington debarked on his visit to Amesbury in 1789.  And where earlier, in 1692, accused witch Susannah Martin had been dragged to Salem for trial and hanging. (Martin was pardoned by Acting Gov. Jane Swift in 1991.) Upstream along Merrimac Street development includes the municipal sewer treatment plant, numerous waterfront enterprises, and the crumbling Merrimac Hat Factory.