By 1790 Newburyport began to recover from the aftereffects of the Revolution. Within three years the population increased to 5,000 and the registered tonnage for 1793 was 18,000. Between 1791 and 1794, the value of Newburyport’s exports doubled from $250,000 to $495,000.

Perhaps one of the most famous vessels built in nearby Amesbury was the Essex, which gained internation attention when sunk by a whale, thus inspiring Herman Melville to write Moby Dick. Ship construction continued but it was eclipsed by foreign trade. Fish and lumber remained the basic exports. European nations were embroiled in the Napoleonic Wars and this placed the United States in the position of being the sole neutral carrier of food and other goods. During the first years of the 19th century, Newburyport reached its zenith as an internationally known seaport, with every ship’s cargo inspected by the Custom House officers.

This growth stopped before the end of the decade. The 1807 Embargo Act, subsequent Non-Intercourse Acts and the War of 1812 closed European markets to American Traders. In 1811 the Great Fire destroyed 25 acres of the commercial district and resulted in $1,000,000 worth of damage. As settlements moved upriver, Newburyport had served as the entrepôt for towns along the Merrimack. But construction of the Middlesex Canal in 1803 rerouted interior trade from Newburyport to Boston.

By 1815 the total value and tonnage of the town was ⅔ of what it had been in 1807 and Newburyport lost her status as an international port.