Marblehead, Massachusetts
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Image:Marblehead seal.jpg Marblehead, founded in 1629, is a town located in Essex County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 20,377.
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History
Marblehead was first settled in 1629 and was officially incorporated in 1649. The town originated as a fishing village that grew up from the water's edge. The bounty of the ocean filled the shoreline with smell of fish drying and waiting to be exported abroad and to the neighboring port of Salem. The town hit an early economic peak just prior to the American Revolution, as locally financed privateering vessels pirated the seas for the bounty of large European vessels. A very large percentage of the town became involved very early on in the fight for American freedom, and the salty sailors of Marblehead, under General John Glover are recognized by many scholars as the forerunner of the American Navy. The first vessel commissioned for the navy, the Hannah, was equipped with all cannons, rope, provision (including the "Joe Frogger" molasses/sea water cookie) and men all from Marblehead. However, many men of Marblehead that set out to war did not return and so, by the revolution's end, the town had lost a substantial portion of their population and the economy with it. Since then the town had a short-term industrial boom as shoe-making factories and yachting brought new life to the town by the late 1800s. This began the most recent epoch for Marblehead, as the legacy of sailing and yacht-clubs have overcome the fisherman/lobsterman image of the town to remake the town into what it is today. Among its notable residents are General John Glover, who carried Washington across the Delaware, Elbridge Gerry, infamous for political gerrymandering and a Supreme Court Justice, Joseph Story, and most recently the cyclist Tyler Hamilton.
Archibald MacNeal Willard's famous painting The Spirit of '76 hangs in Marblehead's Abbot Hall.
Geography
Image:Marblehead ma highlight.png Marblehead is located at 42°29'49" North, 70°51'47" West (42.497146, -70.863236)Template:GR.
The geographic location of the town is one of the things that makes it unique. The town is comprised of a rocky peninsula that extends into the Atlantic Ocean with a neck of land that is connected to the main town by a sand bar that is quite long indeed. This ring of land forms the outline of Marblehead's famous sheltered deep harbor. At one time, Marblehead was part of Salem, but it was a long time ago.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 50.8 km² (19.6 mi²). 11.7 km² (4.5 mi²) of it is land and 39.1 km² (15.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 76.92% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 20,377 people, 8,541 households, and 5,679 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,736.8/km² (4,498.9/mi²). There were 8,906 housing units at an average density of 759.1/km² (1,966.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.56% White, 0.44% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.98% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.73% from two or more races. Only 0.88% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 8,541 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.5% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 89.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $73,968, and the median income for a family was $99,892. Males had a median income of $70,470 versus $44,988 for females. The per capita income for the town was $46,738. 4.3% of the population and 3.2% of families were below the poverty line. 5.7% of those under the age of 18 and 4.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Trivia
Image:Marbleheadneck.jpg Marblehead is one of the easternmost towns in Massachusetts, excluding those on Cape Cod. As such, it receives some of the first rays of the sun each morning. Marblehead is thus the origin of the Boston slang phrase "Light dawns on Marblehead", used when a dense person (marble head) finally realizes something (sees the light).[1]
The movies Autumn Heart, Hocus Pocus, Treading Water, The Good Son, and Moonlight Mile were all filmed in Marblehead.
Points of interest
- Abbot Hall
- Crocker Park, the gift of Uriel Crocker
- Crowninshield Island
- Fort Sewall
- Herreshoff Castle
- Jeremiah Lee Mansion
External links
Light housefr:Marblehead (Massachusetts) sv:Marblehead, Massachusetts