1889: The Launch of a Now-Noteworthy Chesapeake Bay Sailboat

October 5, 1889

On Maryland’s Eastern Shore, a vessel built for oyster dredging in the Chesapeake Bay was launched at Tilghman Island in Talbot County. This still-existing vessel is a “bugeye,” a type of sailboat specifically developed to collect bottom-dwelling oysters in that region of the United States. This particular bugeye was give the name Edna E. Lockwood. (The identity of this vessel’s namesake remains shrouded in mystery.)

The Edna E. Lockwood was constructed by boatbuilder John B. Harrison of Tilghman Island for fellow local resident Daniel W. Haddaway. This bugeye was the seventh of 18 to be built by Harrison. From the time of her launch until the end of her career as an oyster dredger in 1967, the Lockwood was operated by a total of seven sets of owners.

While routinely deployed for dredging the Chesapeake Bay for oysters each winter, this vessel was used for transporting freight such as lumber and grain throughout the remainder of the year. Hundreds of bugeyes were built for service in the Chesapeake Bay, and the Lockwood ultimately became the last working oyster boat of that kind. After being retired from that line of work, the Lockwood was used as a yacht for a few years.

In 1973, the Lockwood was donated to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in the town of St. Michaels. She was extensively restored between 1975 and 1979 and is still at the museum today. In 1994, this vessel was officially designated a National Historic Landmark.

Photo Credit: Acroterion (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)

For more information on the Edna E. Lockwood, please check out https://cbmm.org/edna-e-lockwood-bugeye-1889/ and https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/edna-lockwood-visit.htm

Additional information on Chesapeake Bay bugeyes is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugeye