On March 5, 2016, delivery of the loblolly pine logs needed for the restoration of the nine-log bottom hull of the 1889 bugeye Edna E. Lockwood was made to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels Md. A registered National Historic Landmark, Edna Lockwood is recognized as the world’s last historic log-bottomed bugeye still under sail. The historic restoration will be undertaken at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in full public view through 2018.
“After a two year search, we are delighted to announce Edna’s loblolly pines logs have been secured,” said CBMM President Kristen Greenaway. “And all thanks to a very generous donation by Paul M. Jones Lumber Co. of Snow Hill, Md.”
With transportation costs of the logs generously underwritten by individual donors, the pine logs were taken to St. Michaels over several truckloads, and submerged in the Miles River for preservation until the restoration project continues later this year. Photos of the log delivery can be found at bit.ly/EdnasLogArrivalPhotos.
Johnson Lumber of Easton, Md. delivered the 16 loblolly pine logs—allowing overages if needed for the project—averaging 55-feet in length with a 10-foot circumference. The logs were discovered at the back of a private stand of pines in Machipongo, Va., recently felled by Paul M. Jones Lumber Co., where they laid for a couple of weeks.
“This project took a village just to get the logs to campus,” continued Greenaway. “Because of the enormous weight of these logs, Alan Johnson—a long-time supporter of the museum—had to transport the logs three or four at a time over several trips from Snow Hill to his own yard in Easton, where they waited until delivery to the museum this past Saturday.”
The Edna E. Lockwood historic log-hull restoration project is expected to take 25 months, with work on the logs beginning this September.
Built in 1889 by John B. Harrison on Tilghman Island for Daniel W. Haddaway, Edna E. Lockwood dredged for oysters through winter, and carried freight—such as lumber, grain, and produce—after the dredging season ended. She worked faithfully for many owners, mainly out of Cambridge, Md., until she stopped “drudging” in 1967. In 1973, Edna was donated to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum by John R. Kimberly. Recognized as the last working oyster boat of her kind, Edna E. Lockwood was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1994.
“This type of boatbuilding is specific to the Chesapeake Bay,” said CBMM Chief Curator Pete Lesher. “Just as Native American dugout canoes were formed by carving out one log, a bugeye’s hull is unique in that it is constructed by hewing a set of logs to shape and pinning them together as a unit. Over the next two years, museum guests will have incredible opportunities to watch the restoration progress and to see a boat built in a way you can find nowhere else, and in full public view.”
Established in 1965, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a world-class maritime museum dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment and people of the entire Chesapeake Bay, with the values of relevancy, authenticity, and stewardship guiding its mission. For more information, visit www.cbmm.org or call 410-745-2916.
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