Essex County Revolution 250

Celebrate Mass250 with a special guided tour of the Stevens-Coolidge House led by our curator to explore how Helen and John Gardner Coolidge, working with preservation architect Joseph Everett Chandler, transformed an ancestral farm into a refined Country Place Era estate between 1914 and 1940. Discover Chandler’s signature Colonial Revival details, including the paneled dining…

* Reservations Required

Before there was an army, there was a harbor. Marblehead’s fishermen and mariners didn’t just support the Revolution — they helped carry it. This walking tour traces Colonel John Glover’s regiment through the streets where ordinary seamen made extraordinary decisions. With nearly 300 pre-Revolutionary homes still standing, the history here isn’t behind glass — it’s…

* Reservations Required

What did it take to train a Revolutionary War soldier? Find out firsthand as members of the Danvers Alarm List Company demonstrate the drilling techniques used by local militia 250 years ago using the Pickering Manual of Arms. Watch as reenactors walk through the precise commands and movements that Danvers men would have trained with…

A history of the Marblehead Fort, which became a park in the 1890s & in 1922. First estab. in 1644 with renovations in 1705 & c.1743, it was expanded to its current footprint in 1775, as America’s Revolutionary War began. It was named Fort Sewall c.1800, after a 1790s renovation by the U.S. gov’t due…

Step back in time and experience the sights, smells, and flavors of colonial cooking! Join us for a drop-in Hearth Cooking Demonstration at the Historic John Ward House, where the past comes alive around an open fire. This demonstration brings traditional hearth cooking techniques out of the history books and into the fireplace. Watch as…

Indoor tour of the two-part mansion of Robert “King” Hooper, Marblehead’s most famous Loyalist, with a focus on his large family and the Revolution’s impact on all of them, including the former “King.” It’s a poignant story, with much social history. And it will note why he would have taken that stance in the very…

The Samuel Brocklebank House, built about 1680, was home to generations of Brocklebanks until it became a tavern in 1755. During the American Revolution, this was a local gathering place at what was then the West Rowley center. See the original tavern sign with holes perhaps made by musket balls as militia practiced hitting the…

In honor of Rev250, this is a guided tour of Abbot Hall, Marblehead’s fourth town meeting hall. Its corner stone was laid in 1876, the nation’s Centennial year. Be inspired by the life-size “Spirit of ‘76” painting, explore historical WPA murals from 1934, and more. A different program in Abbot Hall is also offered the…

A walking tour of Marblehead’s historic downtown which includes about 300 houses of nearly 525 that stood in 1776, when the gritty but prosperous international Atlantic seaport was the sixth most populous metropolis in British N. America. Marblehead’s zealous and nearly fully rebel (Patriot) service on land and at sea through the Rev’s 8 long…

Happy 250th, America and Happy 300th, Methuen! As we continue to celebrate our nation’s birthday, we’re looking back at the Bicentennial memorabilia of 1976. Methuen’s own Bicentennial Man, local historian Thomas Spitalere, will have some of his collection of Bicentennial memorabilia on display in the great Hall. This is one of the largest collections in…

Happy 250th, America and Happy 300th, Methuen! As we continue to celebrate our nation’s birthday, we’re looking back at the Bicentennial memorabilia of 1976. Methuen’s own Bicentennial Man, local historian Thomas Spitalere, will have some of his collection of Bicentennial memorabilia on display in the great Hall. This is one of the largest collections in…

Explore the Revolutionary artifacts collected by the Peabody Institute Library. We will meet at the Public Services Desk on the first floor.

Happy 250th, America and Happy 300th, Methuen! As we continue to celebrate our nation’s birthday, we’re looking back at the Bicentennial memorabilia of 1976. Methuen’s own Bicentennial Man, local historian Thomas Spitalere, will have some of his collection of Bicentennial memorabilia on display in the great Hall. This is one of the largest collections in…

Happy 250th, America and Happy 300th, Methuen! As we continue to celebrate our nation’s birthday, we’re looking back at the Bicentennial memorabilia of 1976. Methuen’s own Bicentennial Man, local historian Thomas Spitalere, will have some of his collection of Bicentennial memorabilia on display in the great Hall. This is one of the largest collections in…

Join Captain Michael Rutstein as he covers the events leading up to the famous battle between the armed American schooner Hannah and HMS Nautilus in October 1775. He will walk us step by step through the engagement and wrap up with the repercussions of this event and its impact on the course of the Revolution…

* Reservations Required