Marblehead fishermen still make a living from their catches in the Atlantic, but it’s not the wildly prosperous industry it was before the Revolutionary War when men made fortunes catching, preparing, and exporting dried, salted cod. Cod was king, and Marblehead was distinguished as “the greatest Towne for fishing in New England”.
We saw evidence of this former wealth in the form of preserved stately homes from the Colonial, pre-Revolutionary war period as we strolled through the old town. Today one houses a museum and historical society, one an Arts Association, and several are homes to people of Marblehead. Over 200 of these homes remain intact, monuments to the wealth the Atlantic gave to the town. And emblems of fish on doorknockers and mailboxes at every house memorialize the lowly cod, the currency of the colonial sea.
On our walk through the old streets we stopped to investigate 11 Glover Square, the home of General John Glover. Glover, just like everyone else in Marblehead in the 1700’s, made his fortune in the fishing industry. His skill as a sailor along with that of his fellow fishermen brought distinction to Marblehead 
during the Revolutionary War. George Washington recognized the value of their nautical talents, and enlisted Glover and his schooner Hannah to raid British supply vessels. Washington chartered other ships as privateers after Glover’s, but Glover’s distinction as the first, allows the Hannah the title “first vessel of the United States Navy”.
In their chapters on the Revolutionary War, most elementary school United States history books include a famous painting of George Washington making a night crossing of the ice choked Delaware River for a surprise attack on Trenton – a battle which proved a major turning point in favor of the revolutionaries. Washington consulted with Glover about his plan to do this, and Glover assured him, “not to be troubled about that, as his boys could manage it.” The men carrying Washington and his solders across the Delaware that night were John Glover and his 14th continental regiment from Marblehead. Since 1976 a reenactment group has been celebrating Glover’s regiment of Marblehead fighting fishermen.