Eastport in Annapolis in Anne Arundel County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Bay Workboats
Over the past 400 years, distinctive types of boats were developed for seafood harvesting and shipping on the Bay.
Native Americans made the first dugout canoe from a hollowed-out log. The earliest English boat builders, called "boatwrights", shaped 3-to-7 large logs and fastened them together to build simple, seaworthy boats like the bateau, log canoe, and the brogan.
As the demand for oysters grew in the 1900's, larger boats were built for longer range and bigger loads. Three designs of this period were the bugeye, the pungy and the skipjack. The skipjack was of frame and plank construction which was easier and less costly than log construction.
Nearly 1,000 skipjacks worked the Bay. The decline of oysters due to disease, pollution and over-harvesting and the relatively short life of untended skipjacks led to a rapid decline in their numbers. Today less than a handful are still active. They represent the last fleet of working sailboats in America.
Smaller, engine-powered workboats, known as "deadrise", are what most watermen operate today as they harvest oysters, clams and crabs. Hand-built wooden workboats are being replaced by molded fiberglass hulls which cost more but are easier to maintain.
Erected by Annapolis Maritime Museum.
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Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Animals • Environment • Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1600.
Location. 38° 58.156′ N, 76° 28.605′ W. Marker is in Annapolis, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County. It is in Eastport. It can be reached from Bay Shore Avenue east of 2nd Street, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 129 Bay Shore Avenue, Annapolis MD 21403, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Central Maryland. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic and in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Harvesting the Bay (a few steps from this marker); Deadrise Defined (a few steps from this marker); Welcome to Eastport (a few steps from this marker); Cap'n Herbie Sadler (within shouting distance of this marker); Draketail Peg Wallace (within shouting distance of this marker); From this spot, you can see 1774 - The "Annapolis Tea Party" (within shouting distance of this marker); From this spot, you can see 1672 - Providence: Settlement on the Severn (within shouting distance of this marker); From this spot, you can see 1608 - Captain John Smith's Chesapeake Voyages (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Annapolis.
Another marker is no longer nearby. Welcome to Eastport
Credits. This page was last revised on September 13, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 11, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 274 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 11, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
