It opened a line from Newburyport on the Eastern to Georgetown in 1849 and extended it west to the B&M at Bradford (now part of Haverhill) in 1851.

The third company, the Danvers Railroad, was incorporated on March 15, 1852, and began construction in August 1853 on a line from Danvers southwest to the South Reading Branch Railroad and the B&M in Wakefield.

After World War I, the Newburyport Branch experienced a decline in ridership, and in 1924, the B&M tried to end service, but passenger and industry protest kept it open.

[1] In 1940, the B&M successfully applied to close the line between Newburyport and Topsfield, and service ended there in December 1941.

In 1976, the B&M sold the section from Wakefield Junction to Topsfield to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.