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New London COUNTY · Shipbuilding and maritime labor

Thames Shipyard: Tugs, Steam Railways, and Repair Shops

Explore New London’s tug-and-barge repair landscape through workshop, machinery, waterfront, and aerial photographs made in 1975–1978.

Historical focus · 1865–1978

Explore the photographs Read the story
Marine Railway Headhouse and Offices, west side. — Thames Tow Boat Company, Foot of Farnsworth Street, New London, New London County, CT
Marine Railway Headhouse and Offices, west side. · 1975–1978 (survey photography; individual exposure year not specified)

THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPHS

People, places, and change.

A business built around towing

The Thames Tow Boat Company organized in Norwich in December 1865. Its work linked coastal shipping with the coal trade, using tugboats and barges to move material through regional waters. Frank Huntington Chappell, who established a coal and wood business after returning from the Civil War, acquired control of the towing concern in 1878. The later New London yard grew out of this practical need to build, maintain, and repair vessels. It belonged to a transportation economy in which the work of a harbor continued well beyond the moment a ship reached a dock. [2]

A yard of specialized trades

Designed in 1900 and built in 1901–1903, the Farnsworth Street shipyard brought together marine railways and numerous workshops. Vessels could be hauled out of the water on cradles for repair. Blacksmithing, boiler work, machine work, joinery, pattern storage, and sawmilling each required spaces and equipment. The photographed complex makes those trades visible through its buildings and their relationships to the waterfront. A repair yard depended on movement between these places: a damaged vessel might require woodwork, metalwork, machinery repairs, and handling equipment rather than a single isolated operation. [2] [3]

Old power and new demands

During the First World War, naval repair work brought additional demands and equipment to the yard. Electrification changed portions of the shops, but steam continued to serve important functions. The federal survey drew attention to the survival of steam-powered marine railway machinery and an unusually complete arrangement of older industrial facilities. The towing company dissolved in 1931, while the yard continued under the Thames Shipyard name. These changes caution against treating the site as a frozen relic: successive owners and changing contracts adapted a working waterfront while preserving much of its earlier fabric. [2] [4]

Reading the 1970s photographs

The photographic index credits Jack E. Boucher and Norman E. C. Sill and dates the survey photography to 1975 and 1978. Selected views range from a tug at a pier and aerial overviews to shaft-turning lathes, belt drives, and the marine railway cradles. They allow a visitor to move from the layout of the whole yard to the tools used within it. Where the index does not identify the individual photographer or exact year of a particular exposure, the archive preserves that uncertainty instead of assigning a more precise credit. [3]

Sources & further reading (4)
  1. Thames Tow Boat Company / Thames Shipyard — Library of Congress survey record
  2. Thames Tow Boat Company / Thames Shipyard — historical and descriptive report
  3. Thames Tow Boat Company / Thames Shipyard — photograph index and photographer credits
  4. Preservation Connecticut: Thames Shipyard industrial history

Keep the sources close.

Download this collection’s notes, timeline and image credits. Photographs link to their original archives and require an internet connection.

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Building dates and photograph dates are recorded separately. Later photographs are identified in their captions; unknown exposure dates remain unknown. Follow each image’s credit and reuse terms.