Haverhill at a glance
Haverhill sits on the Merrimack River about 35 miles north of Boston, right on the New Hampshire line, with Salem, Atkinson and Plaistow across the border. The river runs through the middle of the city and separates Bradford, on the south bank, from downtown and the rest of Haverhill on the north bank. Bradford was its own town until it joined Haverhill on January 1, 1897, and people here still call it by its own name.
The city grew up on shoes. By the end of 1913, one tenth of the shoes made in the United States came out of Haverhill, which earned it the nickname "Queen Slipper City." Those brick factories are still standing along Washington Street and the riverfront, and many of them now hold lofts, restaurants and studios. That history gives downtown its look, and it is why Haverhill has housing you will not find in most of the Merrimack Valley: condos inside converted shoe factories. Liriano Realty works this city from our office in Methuen, one town west on Route 110.
Neighborhoods and housing stock
Downtown and the Washington Street shoe district: brick factory buildings from the 1880s converted into loft-style condos and apartments, with high ceilings and exposed beams. The J.M. Lofts at 45 Washington Street, built in 1882 as a shoe factory, is one example. Harbor Place on Merrimack Street added newer residences over shops and a UMass Lowell satellite campus.
The Highlands, next to downtown, is where the factory owners built during the boom years. It has a concentration of Victorian houses, and many have been divided into units over the decades.
Bradford, south of the river, is streets of bungalows and American four squares from the early 1900s, plus its own commuter rail station and the Bradford Rail Trail. Ward Hill shares the 01835 zip code with Bradford.
Across the rest of the city, Rosemont and Riverside in 01830 and the west side in 01832, you will find capes, split-levels, colonials and multi-family houses. Rocks Village, out on the eastern edge along the river, is a small historic district.
Getting around
Two MBTA commuter rail stations serve the city on the Haverhill Line. Haverhill station is at 1 Washington Avenue downtown, at Railroad Square, and it is the last MBTA stop on the line. It has 150 parking spaces and also serves the Amtrak Downeaster, which has stopped here since December 2001. Bradford station at 10 Railroad Avenue has 303 parking spaces. Both run to North Station in Boston.
By car, Interstate 495 has five exits in Haverhill. Route 125 comes up from Bradford, crosses the river on the Basiliere Bridge into downtown, meets I-495 at Exits 109A and 109B, and continues north into Plaistow, New Hampshire. Routes 110 and 113 run through downtown along the river, and Route 110 is the direct road west to Methuen and Lawrence.
Parks, lakes and the river
Winnekenni Park is a 700-acre conservation area at 347 Kenoza Avenue that includes Kenoza Lake and 9.42 miles of trails for hiking and biking. Winnekenni Castle, built between 1873 and 1875 by Dr. James R. Nichols, sits above the lake and has been city property since 1895.
Plug Pond, officially Lake Saltonstall, is a recreation area of more than 160 acres on Sanders Road with a swim beach in summer, a boat ramp, a playground and more than a mile of trail that connects into the Winnekenni system.
Downtown, the boardwalk along the Merrimack has been extended to Washington Square, and a 1.5-mile loop crosses the river twice and picks up the Bradford Rail Trail. Northern Essex Community College has its main campus at 100 Elliott Street, on a site near Kenoza Lake, with a second campus in Lawrence.
The Haverhill market today
The May 2026 numbers put Haverhill's median sale price at $465,000, with the typical sale between $370,000 and $580,000 and an average of 30 days on market. Conditions favor sellers. That median puts Haverhill below Andover and North Andover, which is a big part of why buyers priced out closer to Boston end up looking here.
For buyers, that means preparing before you tour, not after. For sellers, it means a well-priced house gets attention quickly. Our Haverhill buyer guide and Haverhill seller guide go into the details.
How Liriano Realty helps in Haverhill
We are a bilingual English and Spanish brokerage at 240 Pleasant St Unit: 10, Methuen, MA 01844, led by broker and owner Jefri Liriano. Haverhill is a short drive on Route 110 from our door, and our agents show property here every week.
The situations we see most in Haverhill: first purchases in the $370,000 to $580,000 range, condo buyers who want the downtown factory lofts and rail access, owners of Highlands and Bradford multi-family houses weighing a sale, and buyers from Lawrence and Methuen moving up into a single-family with a yard. If you fall into any of those, or none of them, come back to this Haverhill town page as the market changes, contact Liriano Realty or call (617) 685-1515 and we will talk it through in whichever language you prefer.