Old Baldy is an ancient stone bust of a head found in Essex in 1811. Who carved it? Nobody knows. 

In the 1820s, it stood on the Causeway and Essex kids used to decorate it with hats and scarves. It traveled to Boston, and sold books. It traveled to Denmark and pretended to be Roman. Then it disappeared, only to reappear decades later in the basement archives of a Salem museum....Where it resides.

Learn more about this fascinating and mysterious piece of Essex history with town resident and local history aficionado, Rob Fitzgibbon. 

A NOTE ABOUT PARKING: The Library parking lot is closed for a renovation including the addition of a patio and garden. (Learn more here: https://essexpubliclibrary.org/friends-of-the-library/). Please park across the street, or use the public lot off of Shepard Memorial Drive, just a short walk from the building. You may enter at Town Hall and proceed to the 3rd floor either via the stairs or elevator.