From wooden yachts in the nineteenth century to pre-preg carbon vessels in the 21st century, the Hodgdon family has propelled pontoons into the Damariscotta River from the shore of East Boothbay, Maine for about 200 years. The five eras of Hodgdon pontoon manufacturers is the longest history of a group of vessel developers in the USA. The shipyard has dispatched more than 400 vessels.

Caleb Hodgdon began this history with the starting of a 42′ pinky yacht for the neighborhood angling armada in 1816. This current business visionary’s essential business was a sawmill and gristmill. Somewhere around 1850 and 1895 the yard and the plant thrived. The factory ground huge amounts of grain, and sawed a huge number of board feet of timber while 24 boats (every single business vessel) were propelled. Caleb supervised the operation until 1870, when the second era C. George and James P. Hodgdon assumed control.

The third era, George’s children, Fred, William, Charles and George I. were conceived somewhere around 1871 and 1881 became an adult in the yard and the plant. In 1895, the last vessel of the nineteenth century slid down the ways. The most recent five years of the century were incline years for shipbuilding in the range and brought about the young fellows leaving home to look for some kind of employment. George went to Skowhegan, Maine where he was utilized building water crafts for logging intrigues. Fred, Will and Charles went to the Herreshoff Boatyard in Bristol, RI. In 1901, Will and Charles came back to East Boothbay, while Fred stayed as a foreman at Herreshoff. George came back to join Will and Charles before 1910.