Rice Brothers shipbuilding plant, East Boothbay, 1919

Contributed by Penobscot Marine Museum

Description

Rice Brothers, formed in the 1890s at the end of School Street in East Boothbay, was a shipbuilding company. In the early 1900s the sizable plant was one of the largest and most modern in the village. It built government boats, large yachts, sailboats, powerboats, steel boats, and even engines.

In 1919 its projects included some lifeboats for Harvard, seen resting on the shore.The Rice-designed passenger steamer "Bainbridge" and 152-foot steel beam trawler "Harvard" were under construction.

Local shipyards of the 1800s were usually outdoor operations, with small workshop buildings for tasks such as spinning oakum (a highly flammable operation), blacksmithing, or bench work. Rice Brothers had a meteoric rise from the 1890s. By 1916 the company had three two-story buildings as well as three one-story buildings.

Fire destroyed Rice Brothers on July 10, 1917, and its 100 employees were idled. The brick machine shop remained, shorn of its wooden superstructure, until torn down after another shipyard fire there 91 years later. In 1917 East Boothbay's horse-drawn hand-powered pumper saved the Frank Rice house, seen behind the foundry; it was saved from fire again in 2008.

View/Add Comments


About This Item

  • Title: Rice Brothers shipbuilding plant, East Boothbay, 1919
  • Creator: Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co.
  • Creation Date: 1919
  • Subject Date: 1919
  • Location: East Boothbay, Boothbay, Lincoln County, ME
  • Media: Glass Plate Negative
  • Dimensions: 12.7 cm x 17.8 cm
  • Local Code: LB2007.1.100567
  • Collection: Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co.
  • Object Type: Image

Cross Reference Searches

Standardized Subject Headings

People

Other Keywords


For more information about this item, contact:

Penobscot Marine Museum
PO Box 498, 5 Church Street, Searsport, ME 04974
(207) 548-2529
Website

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. No Permission is required to use the low-resolution watermarked image for educational use, or as allowed by the applicable copyright. For all other uses, permission is required.

How to cite content on this site


Please post your comment below to share with others. If you'd like to privately share a comment or correction with MMN staff, please send us a message with this link.