Boatyards

Location: Along the Kalamazoo Riverbank, Saugatuck

More than 1,000 vessels have been constructed at Saugatuck and Douglas. At one time it was observed that half the tugs in service on the Chicago River and in Milwaukee were built in Saugatuck. The riverbank has been the birthplace for plank river rafts, white oak schooners, tug boats, steam freight and passenger craft that were built before 1920, modern steel stern paddlewheel excursion boats, flat hulled river-going houseboats, sleek aluminum luxury yachts, fiberglass racing hulls, and exotic post-Cold War landing craft.

The three principal 19th century boat construction yards were:

A: The Martel Yard: between Griffith and Butler Streets
B: The Elliot-Brittain Yard: south of Chain Ferry at (now) Wicks Park
C: The Rogers and Bird Yard: foot of Hoffman Street

For more of this story see: Kit Lane, “Built On the Banks of the Kalamazoo”