° Mystic Seaport ° West Haven
Mystic Seaport occupies the site of three of the five shipyards that once lined the Mystic River and collectively launched 600 vessels between 1784 and 1919, a record unmatched by any other comparably-sized community in the United States.
Although many cities and towns in Connecticut were involved with fishing, whaling and sealing, Stonington was particularly noted for sealing, and New London, for whaling. The whaling industry reached its peak in the 1840's. Whatever their port of origin within the state, Connecticut seafarers, including those who harvested the oceans, went to all corners of the world. Sealers and whalers were involved in Arctic exploration.
In the early nineteenth century, Key West, Florida was among the places to which they brought Yankee influences as they fished southern waters during the winter months.
Skilled craftspeople and talented professionals supported the ship and boatbuilding industries and the ongoing maintenance and operation of vessels throughout their working lives, whatever their types and functions. Trades and services included sailmaking, ropemaking, ship’s plumbing and provisioning of vessels. Blacksmiths -- "shipsmiths" -- provided metal fittings, and woodcarvers produced figureheads and other decorative vessel features. As the age of sail waned, Connecticut maritime industries adapted to focus on the manufacture and installation of steam, diesel and gas engines.
Naugatuck Daily News,
Saturday, September 16, 1899
Big Steamboat to be Constructed at West Haven Shipyards—Oder of Brooklyn Firm.
Ship building is to be revived at West Haven, the old yard of Gessner and Mar, which was the building place of the Sutton fleet of schooners and many other coasting vessels, will once lore come into activity after eight years of idleness. The revival of the business will no doubt establish an enterprise more extensive than ever before. Work will begin immediately at the yards on a steamer, the plans of which call for a $100,000 boat. A brooklyn firm has ordered the boat. A representative of the concern has made several trips to West Haven recently and finally decided on the place to have the steamboat constructed.
The news of the resuming of shipbuilding was favorably received by the West Haveners. It means the employment of a great many men who were thrown out of work when the schooner building was abandoned several years ago.
A Maritime History of the Stamford Waterfront
The history of this Connecticut waterfront is as diverse as the people who have walked its docks, and columnist and former dockmaster Karen Jewell takes readers through its maritime history, landmarks and unforgettable characters. Jewell explores the history of such institutions as the Stamford Yacht Club and Yacht Haven, now Brewer's Marina, which have anchored premier yachters like William F. Buckley Jr., Harry Connick Jr. and the Forbes family to Stamford. Come aboard for a journey through time and sea, and learn how the Stamford waterfront transformed from a Native American settlement to the bustling port and destination it is today.
