Constructed for Commerce

Constructed for Commerce. . , At a boatyard along the river in this corner of the town, shipwrights worked at their trade. Local men such as Job Chamberlin built and repaired various vessels that carried goods to and from Dorchester. Large ships could navigate the Ashley as far as Dorchester, making the town a prime location for shipbuilding as well as trade., Dorchester shipwrights likely crafted vessels with dugout hulls as well as traditionally built ships. Dorchester-built schooners , two-masted ships that plied the colony's rivers and coastal waters , ranged from the 30-ton capacity Nancy to the 6-ton house Carpenter, owned by local carpenter James Rousham., [Captions:] , A large cargo capacity and a shallow draft were prized qualities in ships built for the colony's river trade. Some, like the vessel advertised here, were hybrids , dugout hulls rigged like schooners., Propelled by sails or oars, periaguas served on South Carolina's rivers, carrying deerskins obtained from native tribes and rice and other goods produced on nearby plantations. Shipwrights fashioned periagua hulls from dugout logs, often splitting the logs to create wider boats that could carry more cargo., This detail of a 1742 Dorchester map shows the "Building Place" for boats near the edge of town and right along the river near where you are now standing.