Shipbuilding History

Bath ME

Flint & Chapman was started in Damariscotta ME in 1840 by Benjamin Flint Chapman and his brother Isaac Flint Chapman. They moved the business to Thomaston in 1843 and to Bath in 1868, where they were joined in 1873 by James Flint Chapman. In Bath, they began building ships for their own shipping company, which was based in Brooklyn, and for W. R. Grace & Co., in which Benjamin's son, Charles, was a partner. (The Santa Clara built by Flint & Chapman is believed to have been the first of the many Santas operated by Grace Line.) in 1888, they split the company into two - Chapman & Co. and Flint & Co. - but continued to work as a team. Because the Chapmans spent most of their time attending to the shipping company, many of the boats they built are credited in the industry references as having been built by John McDonald, who was actually the yard's General Manager. The yard was located on the south side of Bath, near Marshall Street and adjacent to the Donnell yard, where the Maine Maritime Museum is today.