31. Mills & Tannery & Martel Boat Yard

Location: Lake and Culver Streets, Saugatuck
Date: 1850s-1900

The schooner George M. Case ready to launch from the Martel boat yard in 1874. The Saugatuck Union School is visible behind the bow of the ship. 

Stephen A. Morrison came to Saugatuck in 1835, having walked most of the way from Vermont. In 1837 he purchased the Johannett & Crosby Tannery at the foot of Butler Street. Morrison expanded the tannery in 1840 with power supplied by Dutch windmills. The Morrison tannery closed in 1890 but the last of the windmills was not removed until 1909. Tanning of leather was a profitable local industry that used local hemlock tree bark as the tanning chemical. Much of the leather product was shipped to Chicago and beyond.

Near the tannery were several lumber mills and the John Baptiste Martel boat building yards which produced 54 vessels between 1873 to 1897.