Marblehead, town, Essex County, northeastern Massachusetts, on a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean, near Boston; separated from Salem and incorporated 1649. It is a popular summer resort and a major yachting center, with a beautiful harbor. Sails and other marine equipment are manufactured here. Displayed in the town hall are the deed granted the town by the Nanepashemet people in 1684 and the painting Spirit of '76, by Archibald M. Willard. The many 18th-century structures here include the lovely Georgian-style Jeremiah Lee Mansion (now a museum) and the home of Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and later a United States vice president. Also of note is Fort Sewall (originally built 1644, reconstructed several times thereafter), at the harbor entrance.
Settled in 1629 by emigrants chiefly from the Channel Islands, Marblehead grew as an important colonial shipbuilding and fishing center. Its residents contributed significantly to the patriot cause during the American Revolution, and the first American warship, the Hannah, was commissioned here in 1775. Fishing ceased to be important after the town's fleet was virtually destroyed in 1846 by a gale. Shoe factories flourished here from the 1860s until they were razed by fire in 1877 and, after having been rebuilt, again in 1888. The town's name refers to the marblelike cliffs of the jutting headland here. Population 20,126 (1980); 19,971 (1990); 19,971 (1996 estimate).
