Potomac River Dory Boat

The Potomac River dory boat was built almost exclusively within St. Mary's County, Maryland, and appeared around the 1880s, when Maryland was known as the greatest oyster-producing region in the world. Originally designed as a two-masted sailing craft, it was used for tonging and dredging oysters in the waters of the Potomac River and its tributaries. Descended from an earlier popular flat-bottomed Potomac River craft called the "Black Nancy," this newly designed work boat was larger, more stable, and a better sailor. Its unique design featured a V-bottom, planked lengthwise instead of the usual cross-planking. The dory boat was discontinued around the 1930s, and only seven remain in existence 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. Originally named "Elsie" by Arnold in honor of his youngest sister, who had died as a child, this 34-foot craft was built as a sailing dory. In its early years it was used for oyster dredging and for transporting Arnold to work at the shipyards in Quantico, Virginia, during World War I. It was later used for oyster tonging, hauling seine nets, taking out fishing parties, and hauling building materials from Alexandria, Virginia. In 1974 Arnold gave the boat to his son Richard, a former St. Mary's County Commissioner, and its name was changed to the "Early Times" in honor of the old days of the river and its history. It remained in the Arnold family for almost 80 years. In 1995 Richard's widow, Evelyn, donated the Potomac River dory to the St. Mary's County Museum Division, and in 2003 museum staff restored it to its original 1916 working boat design.

Piney Point, Maryland · United States