This Week in Marblehead History: 1977

Every week, Marblehead Patch digs through the Marblehead Messenger microfilm archives at Abbot Public Library to find out what was happening on this week in local history.

In 1977: 

Three Christmas Week House Breaks: Police continue their investigation into three separate housebreaks which occurred during the past week - including one where thieves smashed in a back door and absconded with rugs and silverware while the occupants slept. The break-ins occurred on Tedesco Street and were discovered at 4:30 a.m. on Monday when Mr. Harding got up and noticed some furnishings missing.

Closing of One Local School Coming Alive as Issue: Gerry, Roads, Story, Seaside, which will be the loser? The School Committee will meet Thursday at 7:45 at the high school library to accept a subcommittee's report assessing the primary school in an attempt to determined which, if any, are dispensable. Committee members said that whatever the committee decides will depend to some extent on the outcome of lease negotiations with the Archdiocese of Boston, owner of the Seaside School Building, which houses Marblehead's sixth grade population.

Snow Cost Will Hit $10,454: After five straight days of plowing, sanding, haulting and salting, the 11-inch snowfall last week will cost the town more than $10,454. So say's Richard K. Homan, surveyor of highways, who on Monday afternoon said that materials, labor and repair costs already totaled $10,454 - and that there was still some more minor clean-up work to be done.

New Outdoor Clock Tells Time, Temperature: Marblehead Savings Bank's new outdoor clock on Atlantic Avenue shows time and temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.

Abbot Hall Clock Back in Running:Time has stood still in Marblehead for almost three weeks with the breakdown of the clock atop Abbot Hall's tower, but now things are ticking again - although the time may be a little off for a while. According to the Building Inspector's Department, Herman Hunt, a clock repairman from Hamilton came back with Abbot Hall's clockworks and assembled the machinery high stop the windy tower on Monday.

Please Return Card on Your Water Use: Four dedicated gentlemen meet in obituary once a month to figure out how to keep your drinking water clean enough to satisfy you and environmentalists in Washington, D.C. They are Marblehead's three water commissioners, chairman Albert Chase, Bradford Carey and Water Department superintendent Willard Harris.

Police OK Contract: In a surprise move Monday night, police reconsidered and accepted a two-year contract offer on a close 10-8 vote less than a week after having rejected the same offer 19-4. Patrolman Kenneth L. King, Marblehead Branch of the Massachusetts Association president, said that the reasons for the union's about face was "not a specific one."

Do you know anything about Marblehead in 1977? Were you a town resident then? Let us know in the comments section.