Buckley & Buckley Real Estate
Buckley & Buckley Real Estate
Hall Brothers Shipyard on Bainbridge Island
Posted on December 31, 2009
On July 6, 1902, the Hall Brothers Shipyard broke ground for it�s new location in Madrone (renamed Winslow) on Eagle Harbor. Upon moving there in May 1903, the shipyard became the town's first large-scale industry. At the turn of the century the Hall Brothers Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Company was outgrowing its site at Port Blakely, which had steep hills ending at the beach. Shipyard owner Henry Hall looked to Eagle Harbor for more room and secured 77 acres in Madrone. After a little over a decade in Winslow, Hall sold the business to D.W. Hartzell, who renamed it Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Company. Once the Great Depression of the 1930s hit, few jobs remained in the shipyard and in 1931 it suffered a fire. In 1934 the yard was improved and the company was able to survive the Depression. During World War II workers built minesweepers and repaired damaged ships for the military. Workers from Seattle and from the island were hired and the workforce increased to 2300. In 1943 the company was sold again, and became Commercial Ship Repair of Winslow. After the war, with the loss of defense work, employment dropped off considerably, and the workforce fell to 50. In 1959 the yard closed and the property was split into a marina, a private development, and a Washington State Ferries maintenance facility.
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