St. Michaels in Talbot County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Rebuilding Rosie Parks
Photographed By Don Morfe, November 5, 2011
1. Rebuilding Rosie Parks wayside
Museum craftsmen are restoring this historic skipjack, which was built in 1955 to dredge oysters from the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay.
Why is this skipjack important? The celebrated Dorchester County boatbuilder Bronza Parks built Rosie Parks in Wingate, Maryland, side-by-side with two other skipjack, Martha Lewis and Lady Katie, part of the last wave of skipjack construction in the decade after World War II. Bronza’s brother, Orville Parks owned Rosie and named her for their mother. Orville Parks took immense pride in his boat and raced here in the annual skipjack races at Deal Island and Sandy Point, winning more often than any of his rivals. He worked Rosie every year until his health forced him to sell the boat in 1975, and he died less than a year later. Since then, Rosie has been in the collection of the museum and today is perhaps the skipjack least altered from her original construction.
“I know I can’t quit. I couldn’t lay home with these boats out in the river. When I quit, I’m going to move away from Cambridge so I can’t see the dredge boats”.
—Capt. Orville Parks, 1967,
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1955.
Location. 38° 47.226′ N, 76° 13.176′ W. Marker is in
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Too Much of a Good Thing (a few steps from this marker); The Miles River (within shouting distance of this marker); Delaware (within shouting distance of this marker); Bugeyes and Oystering (within shouting distance of this marker); Restoration (within shouting distance of this marker); Last Bell Foundry (within shouting distance of this marker); Edna E. Lockwood (within shouting distance of this marker); Heard Through the Fog (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in St. Michaels.
Also see . . . Rosie Parks. The Last Skipjacks website entry (Submitted on March 4, 2022, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
Additional commentary.
1. The Martha Lewis
This sister skipjack is located in Havre de Grace, MD and is used as an educational excursion boat teaching students about the Chesapeake Bay and the environment. She is listed at The Last Skipjacks website as well.
— Submitted December 3, 2012, by Bill Pfingsten 
of Bel Air, Maryland.
Photographed By Don Morfe, November 5, 2011
2. Rebuilding Rosie Parks
Photographed By Don Morfe, November 5, 2011
3. Rebuilding Rosie Parks
Photographed By Don Morfe, November 5, 2011
4. Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
Rosie Parks is part of their Floating Fleet
Click for more information.
Click for more information.
via The Last Skipjacks, September 27, 2014
5. Rosie Parks, 27 September 2014
Credits. This page was last revised on March 4, 2022. It was originally submitted on December 1, 2012, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 413 times since then and 6 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 1, 2012, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. 5. submitted on March 4, 2022, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
