Sturgeon Bay: Shipbuilding (Images of America)

Sturgeon Bay has been home to ship builders both large and small since the 1830s. In that decade Amos Lovejoy built the first documented vessel but it was not until Freeland B. Gardner arrived from Chicago in 1854 that the enterprise for which the area is well known truly took root. Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding includes images from the histories of such major ship builders as Leatham B. Smith Peterson Builders Palmer Johnson Christy Corporation and Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding all of which played an instrumental role in the development of the industry. Showcased here are images from the earliest years when ships like the Halsted and Lake Forest were battered by the elements. World War II era photographs include a subchaser as she passes through the lift bridge a longtime landmark.