Site of Buffalo Drydock Company (Buffalo, New York)

The Buffalo Shipyard was founded in 1808 by Mr. Nathan Bidwell as a repair, chandlery and winter layberth for the multitude of lake and canal vessels calling the booming port of Buffalo. Business for the yard quickly expanded and by 1836 the company had dug out the first of five graving docks for vessel haul out and construction onsite, ranging in size from canal barge dimensions to that of the day's largest lake freighters.

As Buffalo continued its meteoric rise as a grain transshipment, milling and steel port through the 19th century, the Buffalo Drydock Co continued to expand its site and capabilities on Kelly's Island until Mr. Bidwell was bought out by the Union Steamboat Company in 1882. Renamed the yard Union Dry Dock Company, the site's three main graving docks were expanded to match the increasing size of lake and canal vessels being repaired and constructed onsite. Union Steamboat tooled the yard toward increased new vessel construction to augment and supplant the repair business, but the eventually sold its share in the yard to American Ship Building Company in 1899 after constructing nearly 100 new vessels onsite.

American Ship Building renamed the yard once again, now calling it Buffalo Dry Dock Co. and continued new vessel construction at the site, primarily during the summer months when lake freighters were busy plying their trade during the limited season. During the winter months, the company focused almost exclusively on the repair and maintenance of the lake freighter fleet which would layover at Buffalo. Eventually the yard's small barge docks were removed in favor of a pair of large drydocks and a outiftting berth to reflect the closure of the Erie Canal and the ever-increasing size of the lake freighters.

Remaining in operation as Buffalo Drydock through the first and second World Wars, the yard ceased shipbuilding in 1943 and focused solely on the shiprepair and chandlery business which it continued to 1962. Forced to shutter its operations after the grain transshipment industry began to bypass Buffalo after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the yard's drydocks remained idle for several years and were eventually filled so the land could be offered for re-use. Today, the site of the Buffalo Drydock Co is used for construction vehicle storage and as a repair and staging yard for Bidco Marine.


For a complete list of ships built here, please see:
shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inacti...

 place with historical importanceshipyardhistorical layer / disappeared object