Spedden Shipbuilding Company

R. M. Spedden started in business around 1880 as a machine shop and boiler manufacturer. In 1883, he began building sets of machinery for shipyards and incorporated as R. M. Spedden & Company. In 1886, Spedden took on a partner and operated as Spedden & McClymount until 1890 when a new partnership, Spedden & Burch, was formed. In 1892, the firm was reorganized again and renamed R. M. Spedden Company. In 1897, the company purchased Brusstar Shipbuilding Company, which had gone bankrupt, and incorporated the new enterprise as Spedden Shipbuilding Company. The Brusstar yard was on Boston Street in the Canton district, close enough to the Spedden yard for the two to be worked as one. Spedden died in 1911 and the company was bought by A. W. Gieske. It was sold again in 1925 and reorganized as Spedden Shipbuilding Corporation, the name it held until 1948, when it became Wills-Spedden Shipyard, Inc. Finally, it was sold in 1950 to the Chesapeake Marine Railway Company, which only lasted until 1952.

Source: https://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/