Marblehead 250:
Celebrating the Spirit of '76
A committee open to all dedicated to sharing the history of Marblehead's role in the Revolutionary War and providing programming commemorating that history.
EVENTS
How America’s Revolutionary War Could Have Begun in Marblehead on February 26, 1775
Sunday, February 23
Old North Church at 11:45 am, Free
As part of Marblehead’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolutionary War, a program by social and cultural historian Judy Anderson will discuss the facts and myths surrounding an incident on February 26, 1775 when America’s Revolutionary War almost, or easily could have, started in Marblehead and/or at Salem’s North Bridge, in the same way that it actually did just six weeks later – – first on Lexington’s common and then at Concord’s North Bridge.
When Redcoats Marched in Marblehead:
A Rev250 Program
Thursday, February 27 at 7pm
In Person, Marblehead Museum, 170 Washington Street or Via Zoom
Historian J.L. Bell will tell the thrilling story of Leslie's Retreat, the first armed resistance to the British crown, and its connections to Marblehead.
On Sunday, February 26, 1775, about 250 British soldiers marched through Marblehead, sent by the royal governor to search for weapons. When that column of redcoats stalled at a
drawbridge in Salem, their commander ordered locals to let them pass. Militia companies assembled to stop them.
This talk digs below myths of Leslie’s Retreat to highlight eyewitness accounts of a day the Revolutionary War might have begun, but didn’t.
J. L. Bell is the author of The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War. Bell’s website, Boston 1775, offers daily updates of “history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about the start of the American Revolution.”
FOR IN-PERSON TICKETS, CLICK HERE
FOR ZOOM TICKETS, CLICK HERE
'Headers in the Revolution
Coming September 2025
Free; NO registration required
Pick up a program book and experience Revolutionary War-era Marblehead at various sites in the Historic District. Meet the wife of war hero, James Mugford; explore Fort Sewall with Glover’s Regiment; meet diarist Ashley Bowen portrayed by Donald Friary and experience a loyalist Anglican service at St. Michael’s church; participate in a recreated town meeting and decide whether or not to support the Patriot cause at the Old Town House; see the Spirit of ’76 painting; tour the Jeremiah Lee Mansion; and learn about the town’s Tory population at the “King” Hooper Mansion; among other opportunities.
HISTORY AND RESOURCES
A collection of artifacts, biographies, timelines, and other information about Marblehead and the Revolutionary War.
COMMITTEE & PUBLIC MEETINGS
The committee meets monthly, usually on the 4th Monday of the month at 2:30pm on Zoom. Please visit www.marblehead.org for agendas and log-in information. All are welcome.
Committee Members and Organizations:
Don Doliber, Co-Chair
Lauren McCormack, Co-Chair
Ed Nilsson, Co-Chair
Jack Attridge, Town Moderator
Kim Barry, Member, Marblehead Museum
Glover's Marblehead Regiment, Seamus Daly & Larry Sands
Marblehead Architecture Heritage & Tours, Judy Anderson
Marblehead Arts Association, Jim Murphy
Marblehead Chamber of Commerce, Katherine Koch
Marblehead Historical Commission, David Bitteman, Ed Nilsson, & Pam Peterson
Marblehead Museum & Historical Society, Inc., Lauren McCormack
Marblehead Public Schools, Julia Ferreira
Marblehead Town Historian, Don Doliber
Philanthropic Lodge F. & A.M., Lanning Levine & Don Doliber
Save the General Glover Farmhouse, Nancy Schultz
St. Michael's Church, Frances Nilsson & Ed Nilsson
SPONSORS
Thank you to our generous logo designer, Peter Schalck, Flat Rock Creative
Thank you to Essex National Heritage for a Partnership Grant to support 'Headers in the Revolution.
