I don’t know about you, but the word “Washington” is so ubiquitous that I often forget it’s the last name of our first president.
“Washington” pops up everywhere: the State of Washington, Washington D.C., The Washington Post, and of course, the countless number of Washington Streets across the nation.
Obviously, the prevalence of Washington’s name is because he was, in fact, the first president of the U.S., and I obviously know that, I just don’t think about it.
But the one place I can never escape George Washington’s memory is right here in Marblehead.
There is a house at 7 Pearl St., right off of — aha — Washington Street, which is called the Capt. William Blackler House. A document from the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS) states the house was built in 1799 in the Federal style.
The floor plan, according to the MACRIS document, is a “typical Salem Federal floor plan” in line with the design of architect Samuel Maclntire of Salem.
The original owner of 7 Pearl St. was Capt. Blackler himself. The MACRIS document notes that Blackler’s desire to build this house where it is, especially given how substantial it is, shows that he was confident “in Marblehead’s future as a mercantile port.”
If there was someone to trust with that sort of proposition, it would be Blackler. Not only was he a captain, he was a captain in Glover’s Regiment. Samuel Roads Jr. cites Blackler as the man who sailed then-Gen. George Washington across the Delaware River to capture Trenton, N.J. Roads even says that was Blackler’s “proudest boast through life.”
Blackler was also a member of the Committee of Inspection, which in 1775 started to prevent the importation of British goods. Later, in 1799, he served as a selectman.
Hopefully this article has taught you something new. That is, of course, my hope for all of these articles. But the second purpose of this article is to remind me that, when I drive down Washington Street and catch a glimpse of the Blackler House, Washington means George Washington.