Thatcher Magoun

Thatcher Magoun (June 17, 1775 – April 16, 1856) was a shipbuilder who specialized in large ships and brigs, 250-tons and larger, built for the China trade. His reputation, according to the maritime historian Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, was "second to none among American shipbuilders." He was also called the "Father of Shipbuilding on the Mystic River."

Early life Magoun was born in Pembroke, Massachusetts, on June 17, 1775. He became a ship carpenter, and worked for Enos Briggs in Salem for five years. From Salem, he went to Mr. Barker's yard in Charlestown (which became Navy Yard), where he worked and studied two years, and assisted in modelling.

Career In 1803, Magoun established the first shipyard in Medford, Massachusetts next to the Mystic River, on what is known today as Riverside Avenue, opposite the end of Park Street. That same year, he laid the keel of his first vessel, the 188-ton Mt. Aetna, the model of which he had made a few years before.

Timber was procured from Medford, Maiden, Woburn, Burlington, Lexington, Stoneham, Andover, and their adjoining towns. Mr. Magoun's first purchase was trees standing in what is now Winchester, for six dollars per ton. It was more difficult to get white-oak plank. When the Middlesex Canal was opened, a supply came through that channel, and large rafts were floated into the river through a side lock, which was near the entrance of Medford Turnpike.

In 1851, B. F. Delano built two ships at the Magoun shipyard for W. W. Goddard, of Boston. Delano built the pilot boat William Starkey, a Boston schooner-rigged pilot boat built in 1854. The biggest ships built at the Thatcher Magoun shipyard at Medford were the 1,294-ton clipper ship Herald of the Morning and the 1,286-ton Kingfisher. amassing significant wealth in international shipping and the Chincha Islands guano trade. Magoun specialized in big ships and brigs, which were 250-tons and larger in size, built for China trade.

Legacy Thatcher Magoun House, 117 High Street, Medford, Massachusetts.Magoun has been called "the Father of Shipbuilding on the Mystic River". His reputation was "second to none among American shipbuilders," according to Samuel Eliot Morison. and Thatcher Magoun III, kept Magoun & Son going in the maritime trade until the late 1870s. underwent major renovations in 1927, and was torn down to make space for a new library in 1959.

Delano and Adams family ties Magoun's daughter, Susan Bradshaw Magoun (1812–1885), married William Adams (1807–1880). They had a daughter, Susan Magoun Adams (1848–1904) who married Eugene Delano (1844–1920). They had a son William Adams Delano (1874–1960), who was a member of the prominent Delano family of Massachusetts.

In 1894, the Adams grandchildren donated land to the city of Medford for Magoun Park.

Historic sites The housing built around Magoun's shipyard between 1803 and 1855 became Medford's Old Ship Street Historic District, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Magoun's counting house, at 60 State Street in Boston, helped establish State Street as one of Boston's financial centers, and is commemorated today with a plaque.