The Coram Shipyard Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

encompassing a colonial-era

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

at 2120, 2125, and 2130 Water Street in

Dighton, Massachusetts Dighton is a New England town, town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,101 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the western shore of the Taunton River in the southeastern part ...

. The district includes two houses, built c. 1700, and the archaeologically sensitive site of a shipyard which operated for a roughly five-year period between 1698 and 1703. The shipyard site is now home to the Taunton River Yacht Club, whose property includes the wharf built by

Thomas Coram Captain Thomas Coram (c. 1668 – 29 March 1751) was an English sea captain and philanthropist who created the London Foundling Hospital in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury, to look after abandoned children on the streets of London. It is said ...

and John Hathaway, the proprietors of the shipyard. The district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1998.

Description and history

The town of Dighton, located on the west bank of the

Taunton River The Taunton River (historically also called the "Taunton Great River"), is a river in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It arises from the confluence of the Town River and Matfield River, in the town of Bridgewater. From the ...

in central

Bristol County, Massachusetts Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...

, was settled by European colonists in the 1680s and incorporated as a town in 1712. It became significant as a maritime shipping endpoint in the 18th century because seagoing vessels were unable navigate further up the river. As a result, shipyards and wharves were built in several places on the banks of the river. Its very first shipyard was established about 1698 in an area that is just south of the junction of Main and Water Streets along the midsection of the town's shoreline with the river. The surviving elements of this shipyard include the two houses of its principal operators,

and John Hathaway, and a stone wharf they built into the river. The wharf that Coram and Hathaway built is now home to the Taunton River Yacht Club. The wharf, measuring about , is located behind the club's c. 1950 clubhouse, and is made of rough-cut stone now covered in grass. Modern pilings have been built around its edges to provide access to the river. Opposite the wharf stands the house of John Hathaway, with that of Thomas Coram just to its south. Both houses are now 2-1/2 story wood frame houses, with a central chimney and a side gable roof. It is unknown how the houses appeared at the time of their construction c. 1699-1700, because architectural analysis of their structure has not been conducted. The present appearance of both houses suggest mid-18th century Georgian architecture, the Coram house having been altered in the 19th century by an Italianate porch across three of its front base (rebuilt with less styling in the 20th century).

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Historic districts in Bristol County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

Description and history

See also

References