MARBLEHEAD — Hundreds took a trip back in time to 1644 in celebration of Fort Sewall Saturday.
Saturday’s event held a dual purpose for the iconic fort — to celebrate its completed restoration and the 100th anniversary of the fort being returned to the town’s custody by the federal government. Consisting of approximately two-and-a-half acres located off of Front St. at the mouth of Marblehead Harbor, this public park was formerly a military reserve.
Established in 1644, the fort is one of the oldest coastal fortifications in the nation, the town said in a statement. For years, Fort Sewall was known as the Marblehead Fort or the Fort on Gale’s Head, and it earned its current moniker in 1800 to honor Samuel Sewall, the chief justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court.
The Fort Sewal Oversight Committee had a few key goals for the $1.5 million restoration that allowed this historic piece of land to come back to life.
“The first thing was safety, second was accessibility, the last was education,” said Larry Sands, the chairman of the oversight committee.
The fort’s bomb proof quarters, which were built in the late 1700s received an upgrade without interfering with its naturally historic character, Sands said.
“We did some renovations to make the inside accessible. We changed the floors and things but, one of the parts of this project in the educational piece is funding of a Fort Ranger program that will start next summer and we’ll have tour guides up here,” he said. “One of the final things that we are doing is building furniture for the inside and that is from the Glover’s Regiment which is what I’m a part of. We received a $2000 grant from Essex Heritage to fund purchasing materials.”
At the event Saturday morning, the newly added canon fired, leaving a cloud of smoking gunpowder hanging in the air.
After the first fire, the crowd clapped and cheered while chanting in unison, “Hip Hip Hurrah!”
