Historical View of Marblehead
A Town Forever Connected to the Sea
The relationship between the Atlantic Ocean and the town has shaped Marblehead, Massachusetts, from its founding in the seventeenth century to this day. The early peoples of the town hauled their livelihood and wealth from her into schooners. They learned from her the nautical skills which saved the Revolutionary War at least twice. She has tested them and made widows and orphans. And today Marblehead pleasure yachtsmen cast sail on her like a blue playground.
My boyfriend and I strolled through old Marblehead on an early spring day to explore the history of the town’s connection with the sea. We needed sunglasses, but shorts and sandals would have to wait till summer. Early spring called for winter coats and hats. But a spring visit also meant easy driving and parking on the narrow streets in the historic area close to the sea. And the “townies” chatted unhurriedly with us.
Eighteen miles north of Boston, Marblehead juts out into Massachusetts Bay as a peninsula with a sandbar extending out to a neck. The peninsula and the neck encircle an area of water known as Marblehead Harbor. Marblehead got its name from a case of mistaken identity when the early settlers mistook the many granite ledges for marble. One large granite ledge remains in place with a shopping area built around as if a testament to the rocky, hilly geography of the town.
Before our stroll through history we ate lobster bisque for lunch at a deli in the historic “old town” section of Marblehead close by the ocean. No doubt the lobster crawled into a trap dropped from the boat of a local lobsterman.