Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: davidson shipyard

"Sunday Nov. 6, 1938 Discarded Steam barge 'Sacremento' [sic] of Davidson fleet rotting in slip at Davidson shipyard" I've seen this ship's name misspelled often enough to wonder if perhaps she wore that spelling on her hull. Like her consort Chieftain, she'd been sitting untended in this slip since 1929 when Mr. Borucki made this photo, which was taken shortly before she was formally abandoned. John Devendorf's Great Lakes Bulk Carriers 1869-1985 tells me that remnants of the ship remained visible on the waterfront into the 1980s, when Bay City recovered the area as Veterans Park. Her rudder is preserved in the park; the remainder of the ruined ship was reportedly buried when the park developers filled the slip. Sacramento was built in 1895 at this yard as a 302 foot steamship (some sources say 307). Davidson Steamship's all-wooden fleet , including this ship, was discarded as obsolete in the late '20s. More information about that, and the shipyard, at the Chieftain writeup . Borucki's Lakers

"Sunday Nov. 6 1938 Discarded wooden barge 'Chieftain' rotting on river bottom Davidson Shipyard" This one's a little sad. When Chieftain was built in 1902 she was the largest hull on the Great Lakes (360 feet long), and apparently remains the largest wooden lakes vessel ever constructed. She was built as a barge by Davidson Shipyard for Davidson Steamship, and was part of a fleet of two steamships and three barges for most of her career. The entire fleet was technically obsolete by 1929, and all five vessels were thereafter moored at the Davidson yard. The Davidson's Bay City shipyard originally opened in 1873. It was abandoned in 1932 as there was no longer any need for a shipyard specializing in repairs to wooden ships. The Davidson family was invested in American Steamship Corporation and in the Tomlinson fleet, so they remained active in the industry. (There's much more information about the Davidsons here . It appears reasonably accurate, but some details differ from my other sources. These disagreements are pretty common, and in this case are relatively minor; don't let them throw you.) John Greenwood's book Namesakes 1930-1955 tells me Chieftain wasn't declared abandoned until shortly after this photo was taken, apparently because her oak construction kept her seaworthy long after maintenance ceased. Perhaps it was news of that impending abandonment that sent Mr. Borucki to the deserted shipyard. We have a couple more photos from that excursion, which we'll soon share. Borucki's Lakers