Christopher Horrell

Expressions of a Dying Tradition: Vernacular Watercraft in Apalachicola, Florida

The port town of Apalachicola, Florida, located at the mouth of the Apalachicola River, owed its growth in the nineteenth century to boat traffic that enabled offshore and riverine commerce. Vernacular styles of watercraft were developed by community labor to meet local needs, conditions, and desires. Remains of locally built and used vessels, discovered in the river and neighboring sounds, allowed archaeologists to record the last vestiges of a dying tradition.