Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding. . , Shipbuilding was an important enterprise in the early history of Jonesboro. The types of vessels built from 1816 through 1887 were varied and included schooners, sloops, brigs and barks. Accounts as to the number of ships built in the town of Jonesboro range between 37 and 39. Ships built along the Chandler River were used for both coastline trade and to sail the seven seas. The largest vessel built in Jonesboro was the schooner Volunteer in 1887. It was believed to have been lost off the coast of Lubec, year unknown. Blocks of granite stone, the largest recorded weighing 52 tons, were shipped on two masted schooners out of the Chandler River, along with paving stones, monumental stones and trimming stone. Long lumber, laths and shooks could be seen stacked along the river's edge awaiting their turn to be shipped from as many as six wharves along the Chandler River. , ( inset photo caption ) , The two masted schooner Kioka built in Jonesboro in 1871 by William Tupper, Master Carpenter In weighed 83.88 tons and was 71 feet long. It was owned by Master Bloomfield Look, Roxanna Look and Josiah Whitney, Jr. of Jonesboro.