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lhis 1192 map ofBaltimore shows Fell 's Point in the center, with Stoddard's H arris Creek shipyard marked just east oftown. (See inset).
Philpot Sueet formed the sole of the boot-shaped peninsula that was the wes tern pan of Fell's Point, and Srodder wo uld have felt right at home in the communi ry. Nearly every lot was occupied by someone employed by the maririme u ades, and those that had piers along the Parapsco River were mosdy shipya rds. His new neighbors were block and pump makers, riggers and boat bui lders. Three ship caprains lived on Srodder's srreer. Dr. William H ayes, the co mmuni ry's only physician, undoubtedly was kept busy tending the adze wo unds and hot pitch burns that were endemic ro shipbuilding. W hen sailors needed their foul-weather gear and slops mended, they could turn ro seamsuess Elizabeth Fullerton, and when they'd builr up a thirst, George Know's porter brewery was just down th e road. Srodder's neighbor SEA HISTORY 128, AUTUMN 2009
and first business parmer in Baltimore was shipwright Briningham Dickeson. In the waning days of the Am erican Revolution, Srodder and Dickeson we re hired w make repairs on the famous armed schooner Plater. Balrimore/Fell's Poim was the onl y major metropoliran and shipbuilding area left untouched during the Revolution. The ciry's development was therefo re unencumbered and it grew along with the demand for military srores and arms. W hen Srodder arrived, several large and well-established shipyards were already in operation. He wo uld have been familiar with the yard of George Wells, where the 28-gun frigate Virgi.nia was built in 1777, the only warship built on the Patapsco for the Continental Congress. Joseph D espeaux had a large yard on Philpot Streer. William Price was building ships in Fell's Point as early as
1792. The shipbuilding partnership ofMayer and Brandt bui lt the schooner Pallas in the early 1780s, and their colleagues John Steel and Thomas Lamden established a yard in Fell's Poim by 1790. Srodder's Fell's Point business was established before he acquired the properry where he wo uld evemually build Constellation and at least sixteen other vessels (that figure is based on documented launches) . Little was recordedaboutSrodder's-o r any other Baltimore shipwright's-actual output until 1792, when it became mandaro ry for ships' carpenters w file a certificate fo r every launch, which included the name of the owner, the captai n, and some basic facts about the vessel, including its rig and its ronnage. Despite rudimentary information, however, a clear picture of the activiry
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