Cape Ann is already experiencing climate change. These 27 vignettes show how Cape Ann’s critical infrastructure, beloved cultural landscapes and historic downtowns are changing before the storm arrives.

Northern Conomo Point

Essex, MA

ecosystem services, heritage, seawall, acquisition, evacuation

The Town of Essex purchased Conomo Point from the Town of Ipswich for the development of almshouses in 1826, which were rented to poorer residents of the community. Leases on the point were negotiated for periods of ten years. Today, the town of Essex retains ownership of the land on northern Conomo Point, which is home to roughly sixty resident-owned (and primarily seasonally occupied) cottages. In 1996, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) ruled that the current occupancy produced more wastewater than allowed for a single owner, the Town of Essex.¹

Conomo Point Realty, Essex, 2016, Conomo Point Essex, MA , Source: https://www.windhillrealty.com/blog/posts/2016/02/02/conomo-point-essex-ma/

The Essex Board of Selectmen has proposed five-year bridge leases for residents who own structures on the land they lease from the town. This, in turn, has ignited a community conversation that highlights the need to retain the ecosystem services provided by the Great Marsh ecosystem (which Conomo Point is part of), offer current residents the option to relocate due to the climatic threats or remain with dignity, and make fiscally responsible choices about the future of the Point.² ³

Snowperson63, Essex, 2011, Dock, Conomo Point, Essex MA, Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/49869264@N07/6006887636

Northern Conomo point is surrounded by salt marsh which previously contained a seawall system, though it was destroyed by a storm in 2018.⁴Conomo Point Road, the only access road to the community, frequently floods during high tides and storm surges.⁵ ⁶ By 2050, daily flooding will impact the road to the Point, posing a public safety risk by hindering fire, police, and ambulance access.⁷In the coming years, the erosion around the mouth of the Essex River will continue. Sea level rise will overtop the seawall system, inundate the marsh, and storm surges will alter the vegetation on the Point.⁸

During the Great Storm, residents may be stranded without emergency services on the Point without access to fresh water, and potentially forced to contend with leaking wastewater and downed power lines.

Riehl, Kenneth. Conomo Point – A Bulletized Overview. Essex, MA, October 2013. ↩
Pennoyer, Paul. A Citizen’s Proposal for the Reclamation and Establishment of a Signature Park for the Town of Essex at Northern Conomo Point. Essex, MA. November 16, 2013. ↩
Essex Board of Selectmen. Comprehensive Plan for Robbins Island and Northern Conomo Point. March 7, 2016. ↩
Ipswich River Watershed Association, Community Resilience Building Workshop Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program Summary of Findings, Essex, MA, June 2018, 16,23. ↩
Municipal Area Planning Council, Hazard Mitigation Plan Essex, 110. ↩
Ipswich River Watershed Association, Community Resilience Building Workshop Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program Summary of Findings, Essex, MA, June 2018, 15. ↩
Trustees of Reservations. State of the Coast Report: North Shore. Boston, Massachusetts, 2020, 17. ↩
Ipswich River Watershed Association, Great Marsh Coastal Adaptation Plan, 2017, 116. ↩