Skipjacks, North America’s last sail-powered commercial vessels, were developed in the Chesapeake Bay region around 1890 to dredge oysters from the bottom of the bay. A boom in the oyster industry began after the Civil War as innovations in packing and transportation opened a national market. An estimated 2,000 skipjacks were built in the region before World War II, but changing technology and declining oyster harvests reduced the dredging fleet to fewer than a dozen by 2003. The skipjack is designated Maryland’s state boat, and the fleet is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The oldest, Rebecca T. Ruark, built in 1886, has been named a National Historic Landmark.