Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Marblehead

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Marblehead

Marblehead’s post office opened in 1848, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Johnson Island Civil War Prison and Fort Site, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1910 on.

1848first post office
4on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Marblehead began

When was Marblehead founded?

1848

The Marblehead post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Point Marblehead (1874), Lakeside (1881) and Johnsons Island (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 865178 years
Founding year: the first Marblehead post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Marblehead’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Marblehead.A National Historic Landmark4 places on the National Register, including Johnson Island Civil War Prison and Fort Site, a National Historic Landmark.Deep rootsA post office since 1848: 178 years of Marblehead.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Marblehead’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Marblehead’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGreek Church, Marblehead, Ohio (approxi…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Marblehead had its own post office from 1848 to 1964. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Marblehead
1848–1964
Point Marblehead
1874–1890
Lakeside
1881–1964
Johnsons Island
1904–1905
Lakeside-Marblehead
1965–today
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Marblehead Post Officepost officeMarblehead Quarrymine
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Marblehead
ClemonsConfederate StockadeRussianSaint JosephSaint Marys Byzantine Catholic

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the National Register

4 historic places in Marblehead

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmark
1
Johnson Island Civil War Prison and Fort Site
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1969
Marblehead Lighthouse
Alexander Clemons HouseFirst Congregational ChurchMarblehead Lighthouse, built 1822Johnson Island Civil War Prison and Fort Site★
BuildingsSitesStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Greek Revival1
Richardsonian Romanesque1
Alexander Clemons HouseItalianate
First Congregational ChurchRichardsonian Romanesque
All 4 listings
Johnson Island Civil War Prison and Fort SiteSite · listed 1975Marblehead LighthouseStructure · listed 1969

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story so far

Marblehead, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Marblehead yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Marblehead is a village in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The population was 865 at the 2020 census. It sits at the tip of the Marblehead Peninsula, which divides Lake Erie proper from Sandusky Bay. Marblehead is part of the area that is referred to regionally as Vacationland (which includes nearby Sandusky and the Lake Erie Islands) due to the large number of tourists who flock to the area in the summer months. It remains a popular vacation destination due to its lake frontage, ferry service to the Lake Erie Islands, quality sport fishery, the nearby Lakeside Chautauqua, and the Cedar Point amusement park. Marblehead is also home to the Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve, home to th…

Its first post office opened in 1848. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 903 to 865 (-4%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Marblehead, 1822 to 1990

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1822BuiltMarblehead Lighthouse is built
  3. 1848Post officeThe Marblehead post office opens
  4. 1856Born hereWinslow W. Griesser is born here
  5. 1874Post officeThe Point Marblehead post office opens
  6. 1881Post officeThe Lakeside post office opens
  7. 1890Post officeThe Point Marblehead post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1906Born hereLoretta Clemens Tupper is born here
  10. 1910In the archiveGreek Church, Marblehead, Ohio (approximately 1910) - DPLA - 86df91e2b73f6c7af9a223f3e6fc…
  11. 1964Post officeThe Marblehead post office closes
  12. 1964Post officeThe Lakeside post office closes
  13. 1990LandmarkJohnson Island Civil War Prison and Fort Site named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Marblehead, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Greek Church, Marblehead, Ohio (approximately 1910) - DPLA - 86df91e2b73f6c7af9a223f3e6fc58c41910Greek Church, Marblehead, Ohio (approximately 1910) -…
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Marblehead, Ohio2012Marblehead, OhioGlacial lake - Ohio North Coast2012Glacial lake - Ohio North CoastMarblehead OH ferry2007Marblehead OH ferryMarblehead OH St Marys2007Marblehead OH St MarysOHMap-doton-Marblehead2004OHMap-doton-Marblehead
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Greek Church, Marblehead, Ohio (approximately 1910) - DPLA - 86df91e2b73f6c7af9a223f3e6fc58c4
Retake this viewGreek Church, Marblehead, Ohio (approximately 1910) - DPLA - 86df91e2b73f6c7af9a223f3e6fc58c4, 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Marblehead’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Marblehead

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
L
Loretta Clemens TupperAmerican actress · b. 1906
Winslow W. GriesserUS life-saving station keeper · b. 1856

Questions about Marblehead’s history

What year was Marblehead founded?

The Marblehead post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Marblehead?

4 listings: 2 buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.