The Rededication of the Marblehead Lighthouse was held at First United Church of Christ 802 Prairie Street, Marblehead on Sunday November 21, 2021 at 10:30 AM.
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This event kicked-off the year-long bicentennial celebration of the lighthouse in 2022. The structure was completed on November 10, 1821 and was officially in service on June 22, 1822.
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The First UCC, established in 1873, was originally a Congregational Church and was the church of the McGee and Hunter families, who were lightkeepers. It also was the church of Hubbard and Ai Clemons, who, along with their older brother Lucien, were the first three winners of the first Congressional Lifesaving Award. When the Marblehead Lifesaving Station was established in 1876, Lucien was the first keeper.
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That station was the forerunner of today's U.S. Coast Guard Station but it was much smaller and had very little extra room for sheltering survivors of shipwrecks. When the new church building was built in 1900, Hubbard and Ai were on the building committee and asked if the church, being so close to the life station, would shelter survivors. The sign of that covenant is on top of the church steeple, not a cross, but a symbolic astrolabe which was an early navigation device.
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The rededication service featured special music including the song that Charles Hunter wrote about the Marblehead Lighthouse, along with special displays.
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