The Marblehead Current is proud to partner with photographer and historian Dan Dixey, who regularly shares photos of Marblehead from his extensive collection, along with information about each shot.
This is a photo of School Street taken in the 1880s before a big fire in 1888. These buildings had all been rebuilt after another fire back in 1877 (you can see a foundation on the corner where one building still hadn’t been rebuilt). The two fires hit Pleasant, School and Essex streets. The entire area, full of shoe factories, burnt to the ground, including the railroad depot, both times.
The fire station is on the left, then the Henry O Symonds hardware store (which is where the Blue Canoe is today).
The photo was taken from near the train depot on Pleasant Street, where National Grand Bank is today. This image is from a stereoview in my private collection.
