From collection Everett "Red" Boutilier Collection
Sample-Shevenel yard
At the Frank L. Sample & Son shipyard in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, on September 29,1979 a huge, new marine railway was dedicated. Hundreds of guests were present. On the speakers' platform (l-r) are Richard McDougall, yard manager; George I. "Sonny" Hodgdon, builder; Prosper John "Bud" Shevenell, Jr., owner; and Rev. Walter H. Eastwood, who gave the invocation. Susan Shevenell, wife of the owner, stands down at the left, preparing to christen the new machine. The 500 ton railway was believed to be the largest east of New Bedford, MA. Its cradle was 120 ft. long and 36 ft. wide. Its track was 475 ft. long. There had been a marine railway on this site since 1839. The yard had been sold in late 1977 by Frank L. Sample, Jr., to "Bud" Shevenell just weeks before Sample's death. Sample had run the business since 1938.
