After 1815, active trade resumed with European ports across the Atlantic - especially Spain and France - and some Marblehead captains and crews profited in the risky, but potentially lucrative Asian trade arena. As a result, in the 1820s and 1830s Marblehead again enjoyed a measure of prosperity.

Marblehead Fishermen, c. 1890

Fishing continued through the 1800s, but not as profitably as before the Revolution. The shoemaking business - one of several winter vocations in extra rooms or "ten-footer" cottages for a century before - expanded as America grew more industrialized in the mid-1800s. When an 1846 September gale off the Grand Banks destroyed half the town’s fishing fleet, shoemaking grew in earnest, in small factories specializing in soft-leather shoes, mostly employing sub-contracted work.

Civil War commissions and mechanization enabled the town to prosper in new and varied directions. Businesses were established, fine homes were built, and extended areas of town were developed. The shoe industry was a productive one, until two fires ­ in 1877 and 1888 ­ destroyed much of the business district.

Marblehead’s appeal as a seaside resort attracted summer visitors and yachting enthusiasts in the later 1800s. Spacious summer homes proliferated around the outlying areas of town, such as Peach’s Point and the Neck.

Racing off Marblehead Neck, c. 1900

Several prestigious yacht clubs were founded in the early 1880s, and restaurants and resort hotels were built along the harbor to serve wealthy summer residents and vacationers. Marblehead and its harbor became one of the country’s leading sailing centers and is often referred to as the "Yachting capital of America," still retaining that distinction into the 21st century.

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