MARBLEHEAD, a town of Essex county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., on Massachusetts bay, 16 m. N.E. of Boston. It is served by the Boston and Maine railroad. The population was 8,668 in 193o Federal census. It is a quaint old town, occupying a rocky promontory about 4 sq.m. in area. Among the older buildings are the Lee Mansion (1768), which houses the Marblehead Historical Society, St. Michael's Church (Protestant Episcopal; 1714), the old Town Hall (1727), the Old Brig, and the Gerry house, where Elbridge Gerry was born. The harbour, formed by a rocky penin sula known as Marblehead Neck, is now a yachting centre. Along the picturesque rocky coast are the modern hotels, cottages and club-houses of the summer colony. The principal industries of the town are the manufacture of children's shoes, yacht and launch building and fishing. Marblehead was settled about 1629, and was set off from Salem and incorporated in 1649. In the early 17th century it received many colonists from the Channel islands. In
the colonial period it was an important commercial, fishing and shipbuilding port, and at one period was one of the largest com munities in Massachusetts. After the passage of the Boston Port Bill (1774) it was made the port of entry in place of Boston, but its merchants patriotically put their wharves and warehouses at the disposition of the Boston merchants and refused to profit by the opportunity. During the Revolution many vessels set out from this port, including the "Lee," which in Nov., 1775 captured the "Nancy," with military stores valued at £20,545. The sea fight between the "Chesapeake" and the "Shannon" (June 1, 1813) took place off the adjacent coast. Marblehead claims to be the birthplace of the American Navy, as the schooner "Hannah," manned and fitted here, was the first American warship regularly commissioned (Sept. 2, 1775, by General Washington) by author ity derived from the United Colonies.