Lost For 50 Years, Historic Marker Returns

The theft of the Ocean Avenue tercentenary marker was something that Selectmen Harry C. Christensen Jr. called "one of the great Marblehead mysteries."

How did a 400-pound cast-iron marker simply disappear overnight in the 1960s? Better yet - why would anyone have wanted to steal it? And how is it that the original has never been recovered? 

On Tuesday, the long-missing historical marker, one of four erected in Marblehead in 1930, was reinstated at the intersection of Beach Street and Ocean Avenue, thanks to the efforts of the Marblehead Historical Commission.

At a meeting last month, the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved placing the aluminum replica at the intersection of Beach Street and Ocean Avenue - on the condition that the marker not interfere with two nearby traffic signs.

The sign marks the location of a former Native American village. It was originally located near the intersection of Ocean Avenue and East Orchard Street but that space is no longer suitable for the sign.

Based on the size and weight of the aluminum replica, someone would have had to go to great lengths to steal the original.

The Historic Marker Reads:

INDIAN VILLAGE

"One of the largest Indian Villages in Essex county stood on this tract, which was owned by Winepoykin. Son of Nanepashemet. Sachem of The Nipmuc Indians." Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission.