[1] The city of Newburyport is located on the south bank of the Merrimack River in northeastern Massachusetts.

It is roughly bisected by United States Route 1, which is briefly a limited access roadway as it passes through the area.

[2] The historic district is dominated by Federal period architecture in both its residential and commercial areas, owing to the city's principal period of prosperity, which came to an end with the advent of the War of 1812, which disrupted the trading activities of its seafaring merchants.

It also has a substantial amount of residential architecture of the later 19th century, although this tends to be more vernacular in style, as it accompanied the rise of a lower industrial working class in the community.

Additionally, the district includes a number of works by Rufus Sargent, the leading local architect, and Timothy Palmer, a civil engineer.