Schooner Sailing Vessel

Essex, Massachusetts was the most significant shipbuilding center for schooners.. By the 1850s, over 50 vessels a year were being launched from 15 shipyards and Essex became recognized worldwide as North America’s center for fishing schooner construction. In total, Essex launched over 4,000 schooners, most headed for the Gloucester, Massachusetts fishing industry. Bath, Maine was another notable center, which during much the nineteenth century had more than a dozen yards working at a time, and from 1781 to 1892 launched 1352 schooners, including the Wyoming.
Operation
Schooners were used to carry cargo in many different environments, from ocean voyages to coastal runs and on large inland bodies water. They were popular in North America, and in their heyday during the late 19th century over 2,000 schooners carried cargo back and forth across the Great Lakes. Three-masted "terns" were a favourite rig Canada's Maritime Provinces. The scow schooner, which used a schooner rig on a flat-bottomed, blunt-ended scow hull, was popular in North America for coastal and river transport.