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The Potomac River dory boat was used for tonging and dredging oysters in the waters of the Potomac River and its tributaries, and its distinctive design featured a V-bottom planked lengthwise instead of the usual cross-planking. The type was discontinued around the 1930s, and only seven remain today, three under the stewardship of the St. Mary's County Museum Division. One of them, the Early Times, was built in 1916 at St. Patrick's Creek, Maryland, by Captain William H. Thompson for Captain Garnett Arnold. Arnold used it for oyster dredging and for commuting to work at the shipyards in Quantico, Virginia, during World War I. Later he used the vessel for oyster tonging, hauling seine nets, taking out fishing parties, and hauling building materials from Alexandria, Virginia. In 1995, the Arnold family donated the Early Times to the St. Mary's County Museum Division.
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Piney Point, Maryland · United States