Monday, 23 October 2017 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: North America / Nordamerika Category/Kategorie: GeneralReading Time: 6minutes
Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts. Its population is at 20,000. It is home to the Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Crocker Park, the Marblehead Lighthouse, Fort Sewall, Little Harbor and Devereux Beach. Archibald Willard‘s famous painting The Spirit of ’76 currently resides in Abbot Hall. A town with roots in commercial fishing, whaling and yachting, Marblehead was a major shipyard and is often referred to as the birthplace of the American Navy, a title sometimes disputed with nearby Beverly. It is also the origin of Marine Corps Aviation. A center of recreational boating, it is a popular sailing, kayaking and fishing destination. Several yacht clubs were established here in the late 19th century, which continue to be centers of sailing.
A large percentage of residents became involved early in the Revolutionary War, and the sailors of Marblehead are generally recognized by scholars as forerunners of the United States Navy. The first vessel commissioned for the navy, Hannah, was equipped with cannons, rope, provision (including the indigenous molasses/sea water cookie known as “Joe Frogger”) — and a crew from Marblehead. With their nautical backgrounds, soldiers from Marblehead under General John Glover were instrumental in the escape of the Continental Army after the Battle of Long Island. Marblehead men ferried George Washington across the Delaware River for his attack on Trenton. Many who set out for war, however, did not return, leaving the town with 459 widows and 865 orphaned children in a population of less than 5,000. The community lost a substantial portion of its population and economy, although it was still the tenth-largest inhabited location in the United States at the first census, in 1790. When George Washington visited the town during his presidential tour of 1789, he knew the sailors of Marblehead well; they had served him honorably in the war. He observed that the town “had the appearance of antiquity.”
At the beginning of the 19th century, wealthier citizens wanted a new bank to finance vessels, and to serve the town’s fishermen and merchants. On March 17, 1831, with a capital of $100,000, they founded the Grand Bank. The name was changed to National Grand Bank on October 3, 1864. After the Revolution, fishing continued as a major industry. The town’s fishermen had 98 vessels (95 of which exceeded 50 tons) putting to sea in 1837, where they often harvested fish off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. However, a gale or hurricane in that area on September 19, 1846, sank 11 vessels and damaged others. With 65 men and boys lost in the storm, the town’s fishing industry began a decline. The storm is depicted in Fireboard: The Great Gale of 1846, c. 1850 by William Thompson Bartoll. A copy of the book is held by the Peabody Essex Museum. During the late 19th century, Marblehead had a short-term industrial boom from shoe-making factories. At the same time, the exceptional harbor attracted yachting by wealthy boat owners, and some yacht clubs established centers there. It would become home to the Boston Yacht Club, Corinthian Yacht Club, Eastern Yacht Club, Marblehead Yacht Club, and the oldest junior yacht club in America, the Pleon Yacht Club. After World War II, the town enjoyed a population boom, developing as a bedroom community for nearby Boston, Lynn, and Salem. This boom ended around 1970, when the town became built out.
In the 75 years from the American Revolution to the middle of the nineteenth century, Marblehead experienced a golden age of fishing. For the next 50 years, the industry struggled, but from 1900 until the end of the twentieth century, one small anchorage made itself proud. From boat building to sail design, Little Harbor, also known as First Harbor, produced creative men whose innovations helped shape marine history. Marblehead’s First Harbor: The Rich History of a Small Fishing Port, written by Hugh Peabody Bishop and Brenda Bishop Booma tells the story through the eyes of a Marblehead fisherman. Today, the waters of Little Harbor, protected by Trustees of Reservations-owned Crowninshield Island and Priest Island, provide a mecca for human-powered water sports, kayaking and kayak fishing. Little Harbor is located in Old Town, surrounded by Fort Sewell, Burial Hill and Peaches Point. Devereux Beach is located on Ocean Avenue just before the causeway; Marblehead’s most popular beach offers more than five acres of sand, public picnic tables and a playground. It is a popular spot to observe fireworks on Fourth of July. Lifeguards are on duty once the beach opens for summer in late June.
