Three Cod Inn (1680)
At 82-84 Front Street in Marblehead is a 1680 gambrel-roofed building known as Three Cod Inn. It was a tavern in the colonial period and a meeting place for patriots during the Revolutionary War. According to tradition, in 1775 the British frigate Lively fired several warning shots onto the shore, one of which struck the tavern. The cannon ball remained embedded in the wall for many years until it was later found and then placed with the Marblehead Historic Society. Known for many years as the Old Tavern, the building has more recently been used as a restaurant.
The cannon ball was actually part of the shrapnel from an explosion of the ammunitions store on board an American ship, the Freemason, in 1779, at anchor in the harbor. Friendly fire is always unfortunate and embarrassing, so the legend about the British ship Lively grew. The British vessel never fired on the town — though her captain certainly made threats to do so. Check the diary of Ashley Bowen for more on the Lively and the Freemason, published and available online.