The major exhibition on view at the Lydia B. Cannon Museum, Down to the Sea in Ships, tells the story of the shipyards in Milton and Drawbridge that launched 251 ships into the Broadkill River from 1737 to 1915, then town’s men and women who were part of its maritime industry, and the effect of shipbuilding on the town and the environment. Although the exhibition features many photographs and artworks, one item is lacking: a depiction of a working shipyard.
As luck would have it, I recently visited the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, and was astonished at the number of highly detailed ship models from the age of wooden hulls and sails to the modern era of steel, steam and diesel power. One exhibit that grabbed my attention was a model of a 19th century shipyard, which showed carpenters working on wooden ribs with hand tools, and two vessels under construction on the stays. The model was particularly significant because it represented the scale of operation at the Ponder shipyard on Front Street east of Collins Street: a yard that could handle two ships on its slipways, located across from a still forested riverbank for much of its existence.
I superimposed the model on a riverbank image to come up with a scene that gets close to replicating what the Ponder shipyards must have looked like. The river in the image is a wider than the Broadkill, and the ship in the background is larger than any made here, but we can use our imaginations to conjure up the sounds of carpenters sawing and shaping wood, the smell of oak chips and shavings, the pungent aroma of caulking being heated in a cauldron, and perhaps the swearing of a foreman.
If you’re ever visiting Philadelphia, the Independence Seaport Museum is well worth a visit if you’re into ships and shipbuilding. Aside from the museum itself, you can board the U.S.S. Olympia anchored nearby, or the submarine Becuna alongside it. The Olympia was commissioned in 1892 and saw action in Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War, as well as service to transport the remains of the American military’s Unknown Soldier from France to the U. S. in 1921. The interior of the ship has been beautifully restored.
a stunning piece of historical research! brilliant!
Thank you Bruce! If you’re in Milton and haven’t seen it yet, come take a look at “Down to the Sea in Ships” when the museum is open (usually Thursday to Saturday, except this week when we will only be open Friday and Saturday).
This is great, Phil! Really enjoyed it
Thank you Sue, and for all the things you do for the museum!
Thank you. My genealogy notes contain quite a few shipwrights of the Broadkill. As I transcribed their records I tried to imagine their workplace environment. The excellent imagery and research in this article has offered me a much improved representation of colonial shipyards than my imagination.
Sarah, thanks for your interest in the blog post. May I ask who the shipwrights are?
I am going to retire and move to Milton next year. I floated the idea of starting a boat building club (Non-Profit) in Milton where we would build boats with manual tools. I am waiting to see if my idea is approved.
Joseph, I hope your idea of a boat-building club moves forward; I hope to see you at the museum when you move here. Thanks for your interest in the blog post!
Actually I have this idea of building a 1/3 scale schooner patterned after the Thomas Winsmore (The ship painted on the side of Irish eyes Restaurant) and put it in the Broadkill River in the park. It is a dream but maybe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Winsmore_%28schooner%29
This would be absolutely fantastic! I believe “Ships and Men of the Broadkill” has specs on the Winsmore’s dimensions- if you don’t have the book, I can get the to you when you’re ready.
Thank you!!! Sallie Davidson Macy
Always happy to hear from you Sallie!
I will be in Milton on Friday – do you have 5 minutes to meet
I’ll be working all day on Friday, so I won’t be able to meet. Perhaps some other time?
That was really nice. And I could imagine and hear in my head all of the things you mentioned. Thank you for sharing!
Dawn
Thanks for your interest in the blog post Dawn!
Well done as usual👍
Thank you Curt!
Nice! The picture is interesting too. What were the length and width of ships built in Broadkill? What was their draft? I’m still having a hard time with the word “ship” and the broadkill river.
Thanks for your interest John! The book “Ships and Men of the Broadkill” provides specifications for most of the ships bult in the Milton yards from about 1860 onward. I can give you the dimensions of one of the medium-sized schooners built there: the “Hettie Dorman”: 100′ x 27′ x 6.1′, and about 125 gross tons in weight. No ship’s width could exceed 36 feet – the narrowest width of the Broadkill River. The yards produced hulls with decking, which were towed to Philadelphia to be fitted with masts, rigging, and other furnishings. Many of the larger ships never returned to Milton once they were finished in Philadelphia because of the difficulty of transiting the Broadkill and the sandbar at its entrance on Delaware Bay near Prime Hook (which no longer exists today).
If you live in or near Milton, please come and visit the current exhibition, “Down to the Sea in Ships,” at the Lydia B. Cannon Museum.