For offer - a very nice old piece of ephemera. Fresh from an estate in Upstate NY. Never offered on the market until now. Vintage, Old, antique, Original - NOT a Reproduction - Guaranteed !! Boat of every description ready made or made to order. Billhead for 10, 15 foot Dories for $190, sent via B&M Railroad to Sidney R. Baxter & Co., Kennebunkport, Maine. Manuscript ink writing. In good to very good condition. Fold marks. Please see photos. If you collect 19th century advertising history, design, American advertisement ad, Americana, transportation, etc., this is a nice one for your paper or ephemera collection. Combine shipping on multiple bid wins! 1811

A dory is a small, shallow-draft boat, about 5 to 7 metres or 16 to 23 feet long. It is usually a lightweight boat with high sides, a flat bottom and sharp bows. They are easy to build because of their simple lines. For centuries, dories have been used as traditional fishing boats, both in coastal waters and in the open sea.

Definition

Strictly speaking, the only true defining characteristic of the dory is that it is planked up with wide boards running fore-and-aft; "It should be well understood, that it is the dory's special mode of construction, not its hull shape, that sets it, and its related sub-types apart from other boats".[1] More generally speaking, the dory can be defined as a small boat which has:

a flat bottom, with the bottom planks fastened lengthwise (bow to stern).

a hull shape defined by the natural curve of a sawn plank (never steam-bent).

planks overlapping the stem at the front of the boat and an outer "false" stem covering the hood ends of the planks.

(with some exceptions) a fairly narrow transom often referred to as the "tombstone" due to its unique shape.[2]

The hull's bottom is transversely flat and usually bowed fore-and-aft. (This curvature is known as "rocker".) The stern is frequently a raked narrow transom that tapers sharply toward the bottom forming a nearly double-ended boat. The traditional bottom is made from planks laid fore and aft and not transverse, although some hulls have a second set of planks laid over the first in a pattern that is crosswise to the main hull for additional wear and strength.

Despite their simplicity of design, dories were known for their seaworthiness and rowing ease, although this reputation owed more to the skill of the operators than inherent factors in the design. Because of their narrow flat bottoms, they have little initial stability and are "tippy". Traditionally, they were designed to carry large amounts of wet fish—often over a ton. They were commonly rowed by experienced seamen who understood the characteristics of the design and could compensate for the limitations. Dories exhibit high ultimate stability, tipping to a point and then stiffening up significantly and resisting further heel. By design they are quite voluminous and can carry a heavy load for their size. Their high sides give ample freeboard even when heavily loaded, and as the load increases, so does the stability.

History

With no clear definition of the type, and few early illustrations or detailed descriptions to go by, the early history of the dory is muddled at best. The first known mention of a dory in detail was in 1719.[1] Until about 1870, there are to be found no recorded dory lines, details, nor any list of particulars that would enable us to say with certainty what the earlier dories were really like."[3] In its most popular form, the dory was created in New England fishing towns sometime after the early 18th century. Howard Chapelle writes, "... some kind of dory boat was in use on the Massachusetts coast as early as 1726."[4] A definite precursor to the dory type was the early French bateau type, a flat bottom boat with straight sides used as early as 1671 on the Saint Lawrence River.[5] The common coastal boat of the time was the wherry and the merging of designs between the wherry type and the simplified flat bottom construction of the bateau initiated the birth of the dory. Other antecdotal evidence exists of much older precursors throughout Europe. England, France, Belgium, and Italy all have small boats from the medieval periods that could reasonably be construed to be predecessors of the Dory.[1]

In 1793 Simeon Lowell founded a likely birthplace of the banks dory, Lowell's Boat Shop in Amesbury Massachusetts. Lowell's Boat Shop has been declared a National Historic Landmark. It is now a non profit working museum still dedicated to building classic dories and skiffs. Simeon's grandson, Hiram Lowell developed the Banks Dory. The major innovation was the straight sides to the new Banks Dory. This made the boats stackable on top one another. This revolutionized the fishing industry because now fisherman would stack 10 Dories on a larger boat and use all 10 Dories at once in order to maximize yield.[6][not in citation given] Founded in 1793, Lowell's Boat Shop of Amesbury Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating boat shop in United States. It was the first to build these boats in large numbers[dubious – discuss] and excelled at their mass production. In the year 1911 Lowell's Boat Shop produced 2029 dories, averaging 7 dories a working day. A National Landmark and working museum, Lowell's Boat Shop continues to build its dories and skiffs in the Lowell tradition to this day

Dories were widely built from Long Island Sound to Nova Scotia.

Today many Hollywood producers have employed the iconic form of the dory and they are choosing to use a traditional dory over many of the modern-styles of small wooden boats.[citation needed] Some more notable appearances of Lunenburg dories are in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, at the opening scene when Captain Jack Sparrow steps off the mast of his ship Jolly Mon; the final scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End where Captain Jack is seen sailing away in a smaller Black Rocks dory; Reign III when King Francis and Queen Mary take a few days alone to sail together; Pirate Master Emmy Award-winning producer Mark Burnett’s tall ship based reality TV show; and many more![vague]

The Dory Shop Museum, seen on the right, in Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

In Nova Scotia, the towns of Lunenburg and Shelburne maintained a rivalry in mass production of dories. A distinction emerged in 1887 with the use in Shelburne of "dory clips", metal braces used to join frames, versus the more expensive but stronger natural wood frames used in Lunenburg dories. The John Williams Dory Shop in Shelburne was one of several Shelburne factories mass-producing dories. It is now the Dory Shop Museum, operated by the Nova Scotia Museum[7] and continues to produce banks dories.

The Dory Shop in Lunenburg first opened its doors in 1917 when W. Laurence Allen began building Banks Dories for the many fishing schooners that filled Lunenburg's Harbour. Though ownership has changed hands a few times since then, they are still producing dories today using the very same jigs and patterns used 100 years ago. Very little has changed in the way they build their dories, however they now also build many other types of wooden boats as well and offer dory building classes for fishing history enthusiasts.[citation needed]

Traditional types

Beach dories

See also: Swampscott dory

The earliest known dories were beach dories developed for beach-launched fishing operations. The principal example is the Swampscott dory, named after Swampscott, Massachusetts where they were introduced. Early wherry types were modified with flat bottoms and borrowed construction techniques found in the French bateaus. This resulted in an almost-round-sided boat with a narrow flat bottom, well suited to launching through the surf and able to hold up against aggressive ocean conditions. The narrow "tombstone" transom assured that the boat rode well against a following sea or breaking surf, and also made the boat easy to row.

Banks dories

Banks dory used as work boat by CSS Acadia

Main article: Banks dory

It is often assumed[by whom?] that the Banks dory was the original dory. In fact, the Swampscott dory preceded the Banks dory by fifty years.[4][8] The Banks dories first appeared in the 1830s and were probably the most numerous at their height of popularity. They were "designed specifically as a ships boat but it became so well known and so common a type that it not only was used alongshore but influenced the design of some local fishing boats".[4] Adapted almost directly from the low-freeboard French river bateaus, with their straight sides and removable thwarts, bank dories could be nested inside each other and stored on the decks of fishing schooners, for their trip to the Grand Banks and other fishing banks. They are not as handy or easy to row as the slightly more complicated Swampscott dories but were mass-produced in much larger numbers. Banks dories were also popular as work boats.

Sailing dories

As the need for working dories diminished, the Swampscott or beach dory types were modified for pleasure sailing. These sailing dories became quite popular at the beginning of the 20th century around the town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. They were generally longer, yet remained narrow with low freeboard and later were often decked over. Another common distinctive feature of the sailing dory was a long boom on the rig that angled up with a mainsail that was larger along the foot than the luff. The Townclass, a sailboat still raced today, is a late example of a sailing dory. Earlier types were the Beachcomber and Alpha series, built by the famed dory builder William Chamberlain, and raced extensively in Salem and Marblehead between 1900 and 1910.[9] Few of the original Chamberlain-designed dories remain intact. An original Alpha dory can be seen at the Marblehead Historical Museum in Marblehead, Massachusetts.[10][not in citation given]

River dories

See also: McKenzie River dory

Decked river dories next to rubber rafts in the Grand Canyon

The western river dory, though sharing features with sea dories, is adapted for a different place and purpose. The key differentiating features are wider beam, more flare to prevent waves coming on board, and extensive built-in buoyancy/storage areas with water-resistant hatches to shed water and keep the boat afloat in the event of a capsize. The first small flat bottomed dory run of note on the Colorado River was made by Ramon Montez and George Flavell on an 1896 river cruise from Green River, Wyoming, through the Grand Canyon to Temple Bar, Arizona.[11] Western river dories have additional special features such as strong rowlocks, long oars, and long blade oars to operate in the highly aerated waters in rapids. In rapids the master rower faces down river to see the rock and or hydraulic obstacles. In a rapid the oars are often used to steer the boat as well as to propel it. The first documentation of this "stern first" technique in Grand Canyon was by George Flavell in 1896.[12] Credit for the "stern first" technique is often given to Nathaniel Galloway who used it on his cruise through Grand Canyon a few months after the Flavell-Montez cruise.[13]

Motor dories

With the introduction of the outboard motor the "semi-dory" or "half-dory" was developed. Because typical dory bottoms are so narrow, the thrust of an outboard motor pushes the stern of the dory down creating a very unstable and inefficient boat. The semi-dory is basically a Swampscott dory with the stern widened and the rocker straightened aft to support the thrust of the outboard motor.[14]

There are other larger power dories, notably the St Pierre dory, about thirty feet long and similar in shape to the Banks dory, and the Boston power dory of Boston Harbor. Most modern power dories have a wider stern to support the weight of the outboard. Because flat bottom boats have a well founded reputation for pounding in anything other than flat sea conditions this type is not widespread. Some designers have taken element of the dory and incorporated these in V bottom boats.The planing shoe is a narrow flat section on the bottom of some V bottom boats that promotes planing at lower speed. The New Zealand designer John Welsford created a plywood, multi chine design with a wider planing shoe, suited to lower horsepower motors (10-30) suited to river and inshore use.

Other dories, and related types

Other, less but traditional types were the double ended surf and gunning dories. The pointed bow and sterns made these boats excel at launching through the surf. Gunning dories were built quite light in comparison to the more traditionally constructed beach dories.

The "dory skiff" is another variation of the dory type. For inshore work the transom was widened, and freeboard was lowered making an exceptionally easy-to-row boat that was more stable (initial stability not ultimate stability) than their offshore cousins. However, they are not as seaworthy as the Swampscott or Banks dories.[15]

The Gandelow, much like a dory design from midships forward, is native to the Shannon estuary in Ireland. The main difference is that, at the stern, the gandelow has upper 'butterfly planks' which are twisted to make the stern wider and more buoyant, while the lower planks, twisted opposite, form a hollow boxed skeg, much like a Sea Bright Skiff. The space created, when covered, provides a netlocker and a platform.

The cot, a protean Irish traditional boat, has variants quite similar to dories, although some have a transom bow as well as stern, resembling a jonboat. (The boat name originated as a word for an open dugout canoe, coit, but became used for many types of small open boats.)

The dory type spread by contact among fishing fleets, and was naturalized in many countries.

Modern interpretations

The Gloucester light dory, a modern dory designed by Phil Bolger

In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the dory style. Many contemporary marine architects and backyard amateurs have been experimenting with the dory type and refining the type to some extent. These boats are designed primarily for pleasure and utilize new building materials and techniques not available to the originators of the dory. The basic form remains however ensuring the survival and growth of the type. New England is no longer the center of dory construction and dories have been built all over the world.

Modern dory designers include Phil Bolger of Gloucester and John Welsford of New Zealand. Most modern dories are about 15–16 feet long, built of lightweight plywood, fastened by fibreglass tape and epoxy resin. They are much lighter than traditional dories and compensate for the lack of initial stability by having slightly wider bottoms and very low (8 inch high) seats and are fitted with skegs for directional stability. Welsford recommends the carrying of a water container on a rope that can be thrown to either the bow or stern to adjust trim in different sea conditions. Unlike a conventional wide bottom dinghy it is dangerous to sit or stand in the extreme ends due to the minimal displacement. Modern designs, like their traditional counterparts, gain significant stability when heavily laden amidships.

Newburyport is a small coastal, scenic, and historic city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Boston. The population was 17,416 at the 2010 census.[4] A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mooring, winter storage and maintenance of recreational boats, motor and sail, still contribute a large part of the city's income. A Coast Guard station oversees boating activity, especially in the sometimes dangerous tidal currents of the Merrimack River.

At the edge of the Newbury Marshes, delineating Newburyport to the south, an industrial park provides a wide range of jobs. Newburyport is on a major north-south highway, Interstate 95. The outer circumferential highway of Boston, Interstate 495, passes nearby in Amesbury. The Newburyport Turnpike (U.S. Route 1) still traverses Newburyport on its way north. The Newburyport/Rockport MBTA commuter rail from Boston's North Station terminates in Newburyport. The earlier Boston and Maine Railroad leading farther north was discontinued, but a portion of it has been converted into a recreation trail.

History

Newburyport was settled in 1635 as part of Newberry Plantation, now Newbury. On January 28, 1764, the General Court of Massachusetts passed "An act for erecting part of the town of Newbury into a new town by the name of Newburyport."[5] The act begins:

Whereas the town of Newbury is very large, and the inhabitants of that part of it who dwell by the water-side there, as it is commonly called, are mostly merchants, traders and artificers, and the inhabitants of the other parts of the town are chiefly husbandmen; by means whereof many difficulties and disputes have arisen in managing their public affairs – Be it enacted ... That that part of the said town of Newbury ... be and hereby are constituted and made a separate and distinct town ....

The act was approved by Governor Francis Bernard on February 4, 1764. The new town was the smallest in Massachusetts, covering an area of 647 acres (2.62 km2), and had a population of 2,800 living in 357 homes. There were three shipyards, no bridges, and several ferries, one of which at the foot of Greenleaf Lane, now State Street,[6] carried the Portsmouth Flying Stage Coach, running between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Boston.[7]

The town prospered and became a city in 1851. Situated near the mouth of the Merrimack River, it was once a fishing, shipbuilding and shipping center, with an industry in silverware manufacture. Merrimack Arms and Brown Manufacturing Company made Southerner Derringer pistols in their Newburyport factory from 1867 to 1873.[8] The captains of old Newburyport (as elsewhere in Massachusetts) had participated vigorously in the triangular trade, importing West Indian molasses and exporting rum made from it. The distilleries were located around Market Square near the waterfront. Caldwell's Old Newburyport rum was manufactured locally until well into the 19th century.

Although the purchase of slaves in Massachusetts was illegal, ownership of slaves purchased elsewhere was not; consequently the fine homes on High Street were staffed by African and Native American slaves until the newly independent General Court of Massachusetts abolished slavery altogether in the Revolutionary War.

Newburyport prior to the Civil War had always been divided over slavery. While many of its leading citizens profited from and defended slavery, it also had been a frequent topic of pulpit rhetoric. After the Revolutionary War, abolitionism took a firm hold, Newburyport included. Several citizens are recognized by the National Park Service for their contributions to the Underground Railroad. The abolitionist movement reached a peak with the activities of William Lloyd Garrison, who was born in Newburyport and helped develop an anti-slavery climate. In 1841, Garrison was imprisoned on charges of libel for accusing Newburyport shipowner Francis Todd and captain Nicholas Brown of transporting 44 African captives in chains. His statue stands in Brown Square, which was the scene of abolitionist meetings.

Newburyport once had a fishing fleet that operated from Georges Bank to the mouth of the Merrimack River. It was a center for privateering during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. Beginning about 1832, it added numerous ships to the whaling fleet. Later, clipper ships were built there. Today, the city gives little hint of its former maritime importance. Notably missing are the docks, which are shown on earlier maps extending into the channel of the Merrimack River, and the shipyards, where the waterfront parking lot is currently located.

The Custom House Maritime Museum

George Whitefield, the well-known and influential English preacher who helped inspire the First Great Awakening in America, arrived in Newburyport in September 1740. The revival that followed his labors, brought into existence Old South Church, where he was buried after his death in 1770.

The city's historical highlights include:

Historic events:[citation needed]

First United States Coast Guard station[9]

First of many subsequent clipper ships built here[10]

First "Tea Party" rebellion to oppose British Tea Tax[11][12]

First state mint and treasury building[13]

Newburyport Superior Courthouse, the oldest continuously active courthouse in Massachusetts

The Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank on State Street was founded in 1854, and is one of the oldest banks in the United States still in operation.[14]

Historic houses and museums:

Cushing House Museum & Garden[15] (c. 1808)

Newburyport Custom House Museum[16] (1835), designed by Robert Mills

Literary interests:

Was referred to in the H. P. Lovecraft story, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", as being located near Innsmouth. Lovecraft in fact based his depiction of Innsmouth largely on Newburyport.[17]

Subject of the most ambitious community study ever undertaken, the Yankee City project conducted by anthropologist W. Lloyd Warner and his associates

Barque Mary L. Cushing, the last merchant ship built on the Merrimack, docked at the Cushing family pier in Newburyport

Timeline

Timeline of Newburyport, Massachusetts

Historic preservation

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, Massachusetts

Despite its former prosperity, in the 1950s and 1960s Newburyport's center fell into disrepair because of several factors, most notably strip malls taking away from local business and increased use of the automobile. At this time, construction of major highways brought larger cities such as Lawrence and Lowell into shopping range. Consequently, by 1970 Newburyport's historic downtown section was scheduled to be razed prior to reconstruction with federal money. Ideas to rebuild the city's downtown were numerous, ranging from hotels and new stores to, ironically, a strip mall, with few buildings left for historical reasons. At the last moment, however, the city changed its mind and signed a federal grant that allowed it to keep most of its historic architecture. Renovation and restorations began during the early 1970s, and continued throughout most of the decade, initially along State Street, and culminating with creation of a pedestrian mall along Inn Street. Newburyport is often cited as an example by preservationists of how to maintain a city's architecture and heritage, while still having it remain functional and liveable.

Nearby towns : 

Cities

Amesbury

Beverly

Gloucester

Haverhill

Lawrence (traditional county seat)

Lynn

Methuen

Newburyport

Peabody

Salem (traditional county seat)

Towns

Andover

Boxford

Danvers (Salem Village)

Essex

Georgetown

Groveland

Hamilton

Ipswich

Lynnfield

Manchester-by-the-Sea

Marblehead

Merrimac

Middleton

Nahant

Newbury

North Andover

Rockport

Rowley

Salisbury

Saugus

Swampscott

Topsfield

Wenham

West Newbury

Census-designated places

Andover

Boxford

Essex

Ipswich

Rockport

Rowley

Salisbury

Topsfield

Other villages

Annisquam

Ballardvale

Beverly Farms

Bradford

Byfield

Clifton

Magnolia

Merrimacport

Rocks Village

Plum Island