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Tugboat Pup

2023.59.24

Print, photograph

Pup (boat) 1894-1915 (left Saugatuck in 1907)

Pup was a tug, a powerful boat used for towing larger vessels, like passenger steamships, in and out of the old Saugatuck harbor, which could be difficult to navigate due to shifting sands and silt in the river and harbor mouth. Pup was built in 1894 at the Rogers & Bird shipyard in Saugatuck. The photo was acquired from the Kit and Art Lane estate. This photo appears on page 176 of Kit Lane's 1993 book "Built on the Banks of the Kalamazoo."

NauticalTransportation: water

Winthers, Sally

13 in

15-1/2 in

005 A+B Nautical History

The digital image(s) were copied from the SDHC photo blog [or the Jack Sheridan drive if that was a superior version] in preparation for updating the SDHC website in 2023.

This image was featured as History Mystery #41 with the solution: The Pup is probably pulling a pile driver or a dredge barge during construction of the new piers in 1905 or 1906.

2023 auction description: Photograph, double mat. Approx. 13"x15.5" OA; 7 1/2"x9 1/4" SS. Piece has not been removed from frame for examination. Part of a Saugatuck/Douglas Art Collection.

10/22/2023

07/01/2024