Chesapeake Bay Skipjack Fleet
North America’s last sail-powered commercial vessels, skipjacks were developed nthe Chesapeake Bay Region around 1890 to dredge oysters from the bottom of the bay. A boom in the oyster industry began after the Civil War, as innovations in packing and transportation opened a national market. An estimated 2,000 skipjacks were built in the region in before World War II: changing technology and declining oyster harvests reduced the dredging fleet to fewer than a dozen by the year 2003. The skipjack is designated Maryland’s state boat, and the fleet is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The oldest, Rebecca T. Ruark, built in 1886, has been named a National Historic Landmark.
Marker is at the intersection of Tilghman Island Road (Maryland Route 33) and Camper Circle, on the right when traveling south on Tilghman Island Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
