For centuries, Marblehead’s waters have been haunted by the lore of the Marblehead Sea Serpent, which made its grand appearance in 1817.
The serpent, which was spotted near Tinker’s Island, was never photographed, making creatures like Bigfoot and Mothman look like social media influencers in comparison.There is no famous Marblehead Sea Serpent photo unlike Loch Ness’ Nessie. And, even with that famous photo, it’s still debated whether it truly was a monster or just an interestingly shaped stick.
Despite the lack of evidence, Samuel Roads Jr., a historian who claimed to have seen the creature himself, described it as brown and white and 130 feet long, which was supported by other accounts as well. He also drew a sketch, which can be found in Pam Peterson’s book “Marblehead Myths, Legends, and Lore.” The creature was shown to have bumps on his back and a “head like Satan’s.”
Roads Jr. and other widely respected men of Marblehead even formed their own Sea Serpent Club in Naugus Head. Membership for the club was high, making one wonder what else there was to do in 19th century Marblehead.
It was such an important subject that the Daily Evening Item newspaper chose to feature it multiple times, once in 1888, and again in 1939. Both stories came after sightings.
1888’s serpent story read, “Some five years since a few congenial spirits were induced by Hon. Sam Roads Jr., to view the sea serpent in the good old town of Marblehead.”
The paper continues on that the group then formed the official Sea Serpent Club that met in Naugus Head. While the Sea Serpent Club is no longer in existence, there is a swim team in Marblehead named after the creature.
1939’s paper also mentioned Roads reading, “The Marblehead sea serpent was a creature even stranger. Sam Roads told of him. So did members of the Sea Serpent club of Marblehead which was a lively social organization in its day.”
It seemed that every time a Captain came back from sea with the news of seeing the elusive creature a rush of additional sightings followed. Peterson’s book emphasized that testimonials came from respectable citizens, government officials, and professional men. Of course, government officials are the most trustworthy source of information.
“Fishermen searched for it in hopes of capturing and displaying it for profit. The Eastern Stage Coach from Boston brought many weekend tourists to Marblehead hoping for a glimpse of the sea serpent,” according to Peterson.
It seemed like the sea serpent was most elusive when actively being sought out, and would only appear for unsuspecting sailors who conveniently left their cameras on shore.
The latest sighting of the serpent was in 1997, though the excitement had since died down, reaching its peak during the early 1900s.
Maybe the Marblehead sea serpent is real and it’s hanging out under the sea with a megalodon, The Kraken, and a few sirens, celebrating Cthulhu’s birthday. However, despite dropping multiple lines, the serpent wasn’t available for comment.
