Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company

Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company, founded in 1866, was the first black-owned shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was founded by Isaac Meyers with investments from fifteen local Black residents including Frederick Douglass.

Baltimore's Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park includes the site of the shipyard.

Establishment

Isaac Meyers, an African-American man, was born free in Baltimore in 1835. Meyers was a caulker by trade and worked in Baltimore's shipyards.

Prior to the American Civil War, Baltimore's shipbuilding and maritime industries were mostly interracial with both Black and white workers working together. After the war, many Irish and German workers would not work alongside Black workers in the shipyards and Black workers were often fired.

Meyers formed Colored Caulkers Trade Union Society. The union offered stock for sale and raised $10,000 from Black Baltimore residents including Frederick Douglass. The union attempted to lease a site for a shipyard and dry dock company, but were denied by white property owners. William Applegarth, a local white businessman, served as an intermediary and helped the union obtain a lease.

The Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company opened on February 12, 1866. The company was successful and worked on private and government contracts. It employed 300 Black caulkers and eventually employed white workers as well.

The shipyard closed in 1884.

Modern day

Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park, established in 2006, includes the site of the company.