65. Ship Captains’ Row
Captain Ralph Case Brittain’s house on the southwest corner of Griffith and Mason streets was one of about a dozen local ship captains’ houses. Starting with the lumber boom of the mid-1800s, shipping cargo was a dangerous but lucrative profession on the Great Lakes. More than 40 ship captains lived in Saugatuck and Douglas, in houses often built by the same carpenters who plied their trade in the Saugatuck boatyards.*
Although Captain Brittain’s house was demolished in 1967 to make way for a parking lot, other captains’ houses have survived, including:
The Captain Crawford House at 404 Griffith – An interesting “pieced” house with one section built in the early 1870s connected to a larger two-story Italianate section moved to the site in 1887. The gracious wrap-around porch was added in 1900.
The John B. Martel House at 345 Grand – Built in 1887, the shipbuilding connection to his house is evident in the exquisite carpentry work by George Hames and fancy porch column scroll work by William Finley, both ship’s carpenters. The window frame decoration is of an oak-leaf-and-acorn motif.
*A listing and map of all known ship captains’ houses may be found on page 47 of the SDHC publication Raising the Roof: A History of the Buildings and Architecture of the Saugatuck and Douglas Area by Dr. James Schmiechen, 2nd edition, 2006.