34. Boatyards

Location: Along the Kalamazoo Riverbank, Saugatuck

The launch of the Anna C. Wilson in 1912.

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 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 multiple paddle-wheel excursion boats, River Queen houseboats, Broward Marine luxury yachts, Anderson Boat Works, 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.