Story

The Lettie G. Howard is the sole surviving example of a Georges Bank fishing schooner. A Fredonia-model fishing schooner built in Essex, Massachusetts, she exemplifies the type of craft used widely along the Eastern seaboard of the United States from Maine to the Gulf Coast. Operating out of Gloucester for her first eight years, the fishing would have been done with hand lines set from the vessels deck as the waters of Georges Bank were too treacherous for dory fishing. The Lettie was similar to other schooners that carried their Long Island and New Jersey catches to New York City’s Fulton Fish Market. In 1901, the Lettie was purchased by the E.E. Saunders company of Pensacola, Florida, for use off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Completely rebuilt in 1923, she was fitted with her first auxiliary engine a year later. She remained in the Gulf of Mexico until 1968, when she was sold to the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City. The Lettie G. Howard was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. Between 1991 and 1993, the Museum completely restored her to her original 1893 appearance, while outfitting her to accommodate trainees on educational cruises.  In 2019 the museum is collaborating with the Flagship Niagara League to operate her sailing education programs in the Great Lakes.