34. Boatyards
More than 1,000 vessels have been constructed in Saugatuck and Douglas. At the end of the 19th century, some claimed 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 rafts, white oak schooners, tug boats, steam freighters and passenger ships.
The three principal 19th-century boat construction yards were:
A: The Martel Yard located between Griffith and Butler Streets
B: The Elliot-Brittain Yard located south of Chain Ferry at (now) Wicks Park
C: The Rogers and Bird Yard located at the foot of Hoffman Street
After 1920, shipbuilding moved away from downtown Saugatuck but it never stopped. Modern shipbuilding activity included producing multiple paddle-wheel excursion boats, River Queen houseboats, Broward Marine luxury yachts, Anderson Boat Works, research vessels, Skater fiberglass racing hulls and catamarans, and Douglas Marine Corporation military landing craft.
For more about local boat building, read Built On the Banks of the Kalamazoo by Kit Lane.