Governor Stone (schooner)

Governor Stone is a historic schooner, built in 1877, in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She is the only surviving two-masted coasting cargo schooner built on the Gulf Coast of the United States, and is only one of five such surviving US-built ships. On 4 December 1991, she was added to the US National Register of Historic Places.[5] One year later, the schooner was designated a US National Historic Landmark. She is presently berthed at Saint Andrews Marina in Panama City, Florida, where she is maintained by a nonprofit group. Sailing tours are regularly scheduled.

Governor Stone
History
United States
Name: Governor Stone
Launched: 1877 in Pascagoula, Mississippi
Fate: Capsized during Hurricane Michael, October 10, 2018; awaiting restoration
General characteristics
Tonnage: 14.6 GRT 12 NRT
Length:
  • 39.0 ft (11.9 m) (on deck)
  • 66 ft (20 m) (LOA)
Beam: 12.6 ft (3.8 m)
Draft: 3.9 ft (1.2 m)
Depth of hold: 3.3 ft (1.0 m)
Sail plan: Schooner
Governor Stone (schooner)
LocationPanama City, Florida, USA
Coordinates30°10′03.1″N 85°42′09.4″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1877[1][2]
NRHP reference No.91002063
Significant dates
Added to NRHP4 December 1991[3]
Designated NHL4 December 1992[4]

Description and history

Governor Stone has a wooden hull, 39 feet (12 m) long, with a beam of 12.6 feet (3.8 m) and a hold depth of 3.3 feet (1.0 m). She has a pine keel, a frame of cypress, and decking and other finished surfaces of pine and juniper. Her two masts are pine, one 38.8 feet (11.8 m) in length and the other 39.8 feet (12.1 m), which is fitted with a topmast giving it a total height of 52 feet (16 m). The basic design of the vessel is described as typical of late 19th-century Gulf schooners. She has a poop deck with a small cabin, and the rest of her deck is divided into hatches providing access to the hold area.[6]

She was built in Pascagoula in 1877 for Charles Greiner, a merchant, and was named for John Marshall Stone, who was Governor of Mississippi at the time. Greiner owned a chandlery in Pascagoula, and used her to bring supplies and materials to deep-water ships outside the harbor. Subsequent owners used her as a buyboat, purchasing oyster catch from working fishermen and bringing it to shore. In 1906 she was capized during a hurricane and washed inland, but was successfully refloated. She sank during a storm at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in 1939, but was again recovered. Renamed Queen of the Fleet, she entered into the tourist trade, carrying visitors on excursions at DeLisle, Mississippi. During World War II she was converted for use as a training vessel by the Merchant Marine Academy. After going through a succession of owners (and names) in the post-war years, she was given a careful restoration in the 1960s and 1970s.[6]

She became part of Eden Gardens State Park in 2003. However, the water in Tucker Bayou next to the park was too shallow for the boat to dock there. She was in Sandestin for a short time, then moved to Bay County.[7] In 2007, the schooner was towed to a marina in Fort Walton Beach.[8] In 2014, it was moved to its current home port at the St. Andrews Marina in the historic area of St. Andrews, Panama City, Florida.[9]

In October 2018, Governor Stone capsized at her dock during Hurricane Michael. The Friends of the Governor Stone organization is raising funds to salvage her.[10]

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See also

References
  1. "Governor Stone". Florida Heritage Tourism Interactive Catalog. Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  2. Delgado, James P. (1990). "Governor Stone National Historic Landmark Study". Maritime Landmarks Large Vessels. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  3. "National Register of Historical Places - Florida (FL), Walton County". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  4. "Governor Stone (Schooner)". National Historic Landmarks Program. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2009-05-02. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
  5. Sikes, Kathryn (2004). "Governor Stone: Analysis of an 1877 Two-masted Schooner from the Gulf of Mexico". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 33 (2): 297–314. doi:10.1111/j.1095-9270.2004.00025.x.
  6. "NHL nomination for Governor Stone". National Park Service. Retrieved 2018-01-14.
  7. Civil, Heather (2 July 2007). "Abandoning Ship?: Walton County Struggling for Funds to Keep the Governor Stone Afloat". Northwest Florida Daily News. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
  8. Victora, Wendy (24 August 2007). "To Save a Sinking Ship: The Friends of Governor Stone Group Wants the Schooner to Be a Traveling Exhibit". Northwest Florida Daily News. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
  9. "Governor stone returns to Panama City". Panama City News Herald. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
  10. "Governor Stone Capsized". Facebook. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
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