{"nrhp_refnum":"75001908","name":"Fort Sewall","other_names":["Marblehead Fort","Fort on Gale's Head"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Fort Sewall Promontory","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marblehead","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.50899323600004,"lon":-70.84106461699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Fort Sewall is a coastal fort site on a promontory on the west side of Marblehead Harbor in Marblehead, Essex County, Massachusetts, with origins in a breastwork of 1644. It is now a 2.5-acre public park owned by the Town of Marblehead.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Fort Sewall is an early coastal fort that served as an important military defense for more than three centuries. It was rebuilt for the Revolution, was prominent in the War of 1812 and was rebuilt again in the Civil War. In 1814 its guns helped protect the U.S.S. Constitution from capture by British frigates.","narrative":"Fort Sewall occupies a rocky promontory on the western side of Marblehead Harbor in Massachusetts. Its origins go back to a breastwork built in 1644 to guard the fishing port against attack from the sea, including threats from the French, the Dutch and pirates. The fort was rebuilt in 1775 and 1776 as tensions with Britain grew, and it was ceded to the new nation in 1794. In 1814 it was renamed for Samuel Sewall, a Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court who had lived in Marblehead. That April its guns protected the U.S.S. Constitution as the ship escaped British frigates. The fort was rebuilt again during the Civil War and remained in government hands until 1922, when it was returned to the town. Today it is a public park of about 2.5 acres with a perimeter path overlooking the harbor. Two features of its military past survive: a fifteen-foot earth-covered mound, probably a magazine, and a brick structure measuring 60 by 20 feet.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Now a public park, ceded back to the town by the federal government in 1922. A mound (probably a magazine) and a brick structure remain from the fort's military use.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.292755-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/54/7950/63795054/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75001908.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001908/d01ada815f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001908/d01ada815f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Fletcher6","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Sewall_Stockade.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Fletcher6</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Sewall_Stockade.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"84002402","name":"Marblehead Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/marblehead-historic-district-84002402/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795054","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Sewall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5472016"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/fort-sewall-75001908/"}