The name Chebacco is Agawam in origin and refers to a large lake whose waters extend into neighboring Hamilton.

Conomo Point, the easternmost part of the town, is named for the Sagamore or Chief of the Agawams, Masconomo, the leader of the tribe in the late 17th century.

Early on, Chebacco Parish lobbied for status as an independent town, asking for permission to build a meeting house.

In colonial times, the existence of a meeting house in a settlement conferred de facto autonomy, so Chebacco Parish was denied permission to build such a structure.

Popular history tells that one written dictate was issued stating that "no man shall raise a meeting house", so the residents of the settlement interpreted it as to mean that women would be allowed to do so.

It is reported that a local woman, Madam Varney, assembled the town's women and construction of a meeting house was carried out by them while the men looked on.

The land that makes up the limits of the town is close to sea level, with a few low hills dotting the landscape.

Essex's population has increased at a sustainable rate over the last quarter century, so it still maintains a certain rural quality with abundant forested areas, wetlands and open spaces.

Though not accessible directly by a major highway, Route 128 clips the corner of town, with exits located in neighboring Manchester-by-the-Sea and Gloucester.

Essex's small size makes New England's traditional direct-democracy style of government practical.

The residents of Essex elect a board of three selectmen to carry out the routine business of local government while relying on the town meeting system to decide major issues.

In recent years, the most important of these issues has been the leasing of public lands at Conomo Point, a school regionalization plan with Manchester-by-the-Sea, and the construction of infrastructure for dealing with sewerage.

The town of Essex does not include a high school, and in years past has had to send its grade 9 through 12 students to neighboring districts.

Due to the quality of the clams that reside in the tidal river in Essex, local restaurants thrive by preparing it along with other types of seafood.

In Essex as well as other neighboring towns, clambakes have thus proved a well-liked summer feast for locals and visitors alike.

This industry accounted for most of the revenue of the town from the days of its settlement as Chebacco Parish until the early part of the 20th century.

Once a leading supplier of schooners for Gloucester and other Atlantic fishing communities, Essex did not adapt to the transition from sail-powered wooden ships to engine-powered metal vessels, and this activity disappeared around World War II.

The Essex Shipbuilding Museum stands as a living testament to the wooden shipbuilding industry and the neighboring boat yard owned by generations of the Story Family still constructs and launches classic wooden ships built in the Essex tradition.

To fulfill this agreement, the town of Essex found four properties ideal for a Poor Farm or Alms House in 1825.

[16] By the late 1940s, the water supplied to Conomo Point from Essex began getting rusty and turbid due to aging pipelines.

After years of suffering poor water quality, in the mid-1970s Conomo residents began drilling private wells.

Grown Ups, starring Adam Sandler, was filmed in Essex during the summer of 2009, primarily at Chebacco Lake.