Bay County past and present . rapid development of the lower Saginaw valley, was that of ship-building. Here were to be found the oak, pine, tamarack, and othervarieties of timber needed in making different parts of a boat. Suchmaterials could not only be obtained at a very reasonable price, butthe quality was of the best, and when large timber was needed forcertain purposes, it was right at hand. Moreover, the deep but pro-tected harbor of the river mouth was a convenient place for the boatsto remain during the winter and receive needed repairs, and it wasbroad enough for the launching of new
Bay County past and present . rapid development of the lower Saginaw valley, was that of ship-building. Here were to be found the oak, pine, tamarack, and othervarieties of timber needed in making different parts of a boat. Suchmaterials could not only be obtained at a very reasonable price, butthe quality was of the best, and when large timber was needed forcertain purposes, it was right at hand. Moreover, the deep but pro-tected harbor of the river mouth was a convenient place for the boatsto remain during the winter and receive needed repairs, and it wasbroad enough for the launching of new ships. Small boats were built in this vicinity long before the valley wassettled. Fishing boats were built here as early as 1849. The firstlarge boats were the Essex and the Bay City, built by H. & Company in 1857 and 1858. But the real beginning ofship building as one of our important industries was in 1864, threeyears after the beginning of the salt industry, when Wm. Crosthwaite INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. 113. C/2 >P bo Pi ;3 114 BAY COUNTY, PAST AND PRESENT, opened his shipyard in Banks. He was followed in 1865 by John , and a short time later by George Carpenter. In 1873, JamesDavidson began building ships where his dry dock is now located, andthe year 1879 saw the beginning of the Wheeler shipyard. TheDavidson and Wheeler yards were soon building some of the largestand best boats on the lakes. One yard alone employed, at times, asmany as 1,400 men. With the coming of the steel boats on the Great Lakes, theWheeler shipyard was transformed. It began making steel boats about1889, and was soon building some of the largest steel boats used inlake commerce. The launching of each of these immense freight boats
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidbaycountypas, bookyear1918
