Lowell's Boat Shop
Amesbury, MA

Built in 1793, Lowell’s Boat Shop is the oldest operating boat shop in America. It is located on the banks of the Merrimack River in Amesbury MA. This working museum continues to make wooden boats in the more than 200 year-old tradition of Lowell’s craftsmanship. It is on both the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. Visitors can view boat builders at work, schedule a guided tour, go rowing or view exhibits.

Renowned for its seaworthiness, the dory was the choice of fishermen who entrusted their lives and livelihoods to these able craft. By 1870, the world's largest fishing fleet was located in the port of Gloucester in Essex County, Massachusetts. The bulk of its fishing was done from dories designed and built along Salisbury Point in what is now the Town of Amesbury. Simple, sturdy and economical, the dory came to symbolize the qualities for which New England is famous. And, in a tradition spawned on the banks of the Merrimack tidewater, Lowell's Boat Shop still builds these classic craft. Founded by Simeon Lowell in 1793, Lowell's Boat Shop is one of the oldest businesses in America and the country's oldest boat building shop. The Lowell's shop is remarkable not only for its innovation, but for its production. It is considered one of the nation's first mass production builders, turning out as many as two thousand boats in a single year.

Lowell's Boat Shop was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and in 1992 was designated a National Historic Landmark. As Lowell's begins its third century, it will serve as a living, working museum, a training ground for boatbuilders who continue to build America's finest wooden boats.

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