Edna Lockwood: A visit from the Chesapeake Maritime Museum

Edna Lockwood, the last historic sailing bugeye in the world, visited the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum on July 6-8 as part of a National Park Service-funded heritage tour around the Chesapeake Bay. Built in 1889 by John B. Harrison on Tilghman Island for Daniel W. Haddaway, Edna Lockwood dredged for oysters on the Chesapeake Bay 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, Maryland 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 Lockwood was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1994.

Edna Lockwood recently underwent a two-year restoration of her nine-log hull. She was re-launched into the Miles River in St. Michaels, Maryland in the Fall of 2018. This summer and fall, Edna is travelling to ports around the Bay, bringing free experiential programming and interpretation of traditional Chesapeake Bay boat-building techniques and the oystering industry past and present.

During her weekend stay in Havre de Grace, staff members offered free deck tours, giving guests a chance to explore the bugeye while she was docked. In addition, Pete Lesher, chief curator at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime, presented a lecture “On the Half Shell: Edna E. Lockwood & the Past and Future of the Chesapeake Oyster Fishery” at our Museum on July 7. His research specialty is the history of wooden shipbuilding on the Chesapeake Bay and he served as the maritime preservationist specialist on the team that restored the Edna Lockwood from 2016-2018.