There was no recreational sailing being done out of my harbor just before the end of the 19th century. Our harbor was all industrial with schooners loading lime from the smoky wharfs and shoreside kilns that baked the raw material dry. Raw lime was brought in by a narrow gauge RR.
There were some boat building sheds (needed schooners), as well as the last, pre-refrigeration ice houses.
Unlike wealthy Camden just to the North, Rockport was a blue collar town and poor by comparison. The poorest residents lived on the smoky harbor.
I don't know the exact date of this next photo, below, but I'll say 1955-60, give or take a decade or so. Sailing for recreation (late by NE standards), was now underway with a small one design racing class in the harbor(Luders 15?).
Fish weirs right in the inner harbor showed the commercial fishermen were well established. To this day, commercial users (including fishermen), are given the prime mooring spots in the inner harbor.
The railroad had put the schooners out of business decades before. Creative owners put the old boats to good use hauling, 'dudes' as the tourists were called (evident by these early anchored charter schooners).
I would guess the first fiberglass boat hulls were being tested about this time.
All the buildings along the water (in the previous photo), are gone. The town now owns nearly all of the land around the harbor. This photo would have been taken from the new Rockport Boat Club founded in the 50's. A tiny building may have been to the left (or didn't exist, yet).
Today, the Rockport Boat Club sits in this spot. Things have changed. Every bit of the shoreline and foreground in the first photo, is now owned by the town. The modest 'Boat Club' now leases the land from the town.
The lime kilns and RR are gone (examples are preserved in place for the public), and the West side of the harbor is the public Marine Park, where people boat, paint, fish, picnic and swim.
I've seen the park expand in the last two decades to include now; 500 or so feet of public dock space (and more coming,...), and a state of the art launching ramp where I've seen nearly 100' boats launched(you pay the town).
More adjoining shorelands have been acquirred by the town and various philanthropic groups adding more public access to the water.
Due to space pressure along the waterfront, boat storage and maintenance, has grown inland.
Sailing has been on an upward, steepening curve, for the last century in Rockport.
Where are the sailors coming from?
4 or 5 clubs within 10 miles or so, have been introducing kids to sailing for many decades. That plus the age old family connection - which I believe supplies most sailors - more than fill the pipeline.
What is the sailing history of your harbor? Is sailing growing or in decline?
There were some boat building sheds (needed schooners), as well as the last, pre-refrigeration ice houses.
Unlike wealthy Camden just to the North, Rockport was a blue collar town and poor by comparison. The poorest residents lived on the smoky harbor.
I don't know the exact date of this next photo, below, but I'll say 1955-60, give or take a decade or so. Sailing for recreation (late by NE standards), was now underway with a small one design racing class in the harbor(Luders 15?).
Fish weirs right in the inner harbor showed the commercial fishermen were well established. To this day, commercial users (including fishermen), are given the prime mooring spots in the inner harbor.
The railroad had put the schooners out of business decades before. Creative owners put the old boats to good use hauling, 'dudes' as the tourists were called (evident by these early anchored charter schooners).
I would guess the first fiberglass boat hulls were being tested about this time.
All the buildings along the water (in the previous photo), are gone. The town now owns nearly all of the land around the harbor. This photo would have been taken from the new Rockport Boat Club founded in the 50's. A tiny building may have been to the left (or didn't exist, yet).
Today, the Rockport Boat Club sits in this spot. Things have changed. Every bit of the shoreline and foreground in the first photo, is now owned by the town. The modest 'Boat Club' now leases the land from the town.
The lime kilns and RR are gone (examples are preserved in place for the public), and the West side of the harbor is the public Marine Park, where people boat, paint, fish, picnic and swim.
I've seen the park expand in the last two decades to include now; 500 or so feet of public dock space (and more coming,...), and a state of the art launching ramp where I've seen nearly 100' boats launched(you pay the town).
More adjoining shorelands have been acquirred by the town and various philanthropic groups adding more public access to the water.
Due to space pressure along the waterfront, boat storage and maintenance, has grown inland.
Sailing has been on an upward, steepening curve, for the last century in Rockport.
Where are the sailors coming from?
4 or 5 clubs within 10 miles or so, have been introducing kids to sailing for many decades. That plus the age old family connection - which I believe supplies most sailors - more than fill the pipeline.
What is the sailing history of your harbor? Is sailing growing or in decline?
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