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Coram Shipyard Historic District |
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![[photo]](buildings/cor1.jpg "[photo]")
Coram Shipyard Historic District
Photo from National Register collection |
The Coram Shipyard Historic District was the site of Dighton's earliest 18th-century shipbuilding industry and continued to play a significant role in the town's commerce and maritime industries throughout the 18th and into the mid-19th centuries. The district includes two shipbuilders' homes overlooking the site of the shipyard and wharf which they developed in the 1690s, a precursor to the many shipyards and wharves built during the second half of the 18th century. Although the Coram Shipyard closed in 1703, the area continued to be used for other maritime-related enterprises during an era when the town's livelihood was almost entirely dependent on maritime activity and where prosperity among wharf owners and merchants was exhibited in their fine homes overlooking the waterfront.
![[photo]](buildings/cor2.jpg "[photo]")
Coram Shipyard Historic District
Photo from National Register collection |
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Thomas Coram, a master shipbuilder, arrived in New England around 1692, married Eunice Wait of Boston, and moved to Dighton the following year to start a shipbuilding business. The Coram Shipyard was likely in operation as early as 1698. Coram joined in partnership with fellow Englishman John Hathaway around 1700. Hathaway built his home next to Coram's home, where they could monitor the operation of the jointly-owned shipyard and wharf. Both early Georgian homes are of wood-frame construction and are of similar size and rectangular massing. The John Hathaway House at 2120 Water Street was built around 1700 and clearly retains its Georgian appearance. Updated with an Italianate porch in the 1870s, the Thomas Coram House at 2130 Water Street was originally built about 1699. The district's two houses have continued in residential use throughout their later years. The Coram Shipyard site is currently the location of the Taunton Yacht Club, which was organized in 1895 and purchased the Coram Shipyard site and Coram Wharf as home for its recreational yachting program.
The Coram Shipyard Historic District is located along Water St. and the bank of the Taunton River in Dighton. The historic homes in the district are privately owned and not open to the public. The shipyard is now the Taunton Yacht Club at 2125 Water St.; call 508-669-6007 for further information about the club.
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