The trilogy of fateful events that welcomed Newburyport to the 19th century – embargo, fire, and war – could hardly foretell a century of astounding progress and wealth, marked by a period of modernization and an embrace of the industrial age.

During the 1830s and 40s, the town’s fortunes began to improve due, as always, to her waterfront location. Some older industries were revived, specifically fishing and shipbuilding, the latter rejuvenated by the rise of the clipper ship, invented locally by noted ship designer Donald McKay in 1842. And new industries, particularly large, steam-powered mills, took advantage of merchant shipping to import raw materials and export finished goods.

By 1851, the town’s renaissance was complete, and on June 3, the City of Newburyport was voted into existence. The 25 years following the city’s incorporation were, like the rest of the country, dominated by the Civil War. Known as history’s first modern conflict, the Civil War introduced technologies such as telegraphy and photography, which soon found their way into everyday life. And while a railroad had been running through Newburyport since 1840, the Newburyport City Railroad, the well-known spur line which ran along the waterfront, began operating in August, 1872.

The last Massachusetts-built square-rigger, the Mary L. Cushing, was built in 1883, after which the Currier shipyard was closed for good, ending the era of merchant sail. Textile production waned, but other industries, such as coal, and shoe production, thrived. The city expressed its civic pride, with the improvement of Atkinson Common, and the erection of the William Lloyd Garrison statue in Brown Square. But Newburyport closed out the 19th century much the same way it had opened – with a slow decline in its fortunes, which would last well into the 20th century.