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The Growing Ambition of the Aberdeen Shipyards

With some of the longest ship timbers in the world, the local yards aim to become a premier shipbuilding hub.

The story, cleaned up

A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.

There is no industry in Aberdeen better located than the shipyards, with the finest and longest ship timbers in the world, with a well-equipped foundry and machine shop, and plenty of deep water in which to launch. This city is destined to become one of the largest ship-building points in the country. Last September, from this shipyard was launched a large three-masted schooner, the 'J. M. Weatherwax,' which is yet the finest vessel of the kind on the coast. The building of this vessel, for labor alone, distributed $10,000. Preparations are now made for the building of three ships the coming year.

“This city is destined to become one of the largest ship-building points in the country.”

— Printed in Aberdeen Herald (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1891
Then · 1891135 years apartNow · 2026

Aberdeen's identity was historically tied to the scale of its timber and shipbuilding, industries that defined both the geography of the waterfront and the economic stability of the town. This story highlights the brief, high-growth era where local boosters believed the city would dominate coastal shipping construction.

The original page

Aberdeen Herald (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1891-05-28. Library of Congress, Chronicling America.

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About this story

From
Aberdeen Herald (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, MAY 28, 1891, Page 6
Rights
Public domain
Place
46.97546, -123.81553 · placed automatically
The paper in the Library of Congress catalog ↗