Criterion A: Maritime History
Period of Significance: 1910 - 1935
Local Level of Significance
The Blackjack is a single-masted, Friendship sloop designed and built in 1900 by Wilbur Morse in Friendship, Maine. The ship is now berthed at the Sail, Power and Steam Museum in Rockland, Knox County, Maine. Designed as a 33' fishing sloop, she was used in various fisheries and occasionally as a coastal trader for thirty-five years before being converted to a personal yacht in 1935. In 2014 she was donated by William Magee to the Sail, Power and Steam Museum and restored to her original design between 2016-18. Although currently fitted out as a fishing sloop, she is used as an educational vessel providing sailing lessons and day trips from the museum. The original design and rig have been restored reflecting a typical Friendship sloop designed to fish and lobster along the mid-Maine coast with adaptability for multiple uses and sailing environments. Blackjack is eligible for listing in the National Register under Criteria A Maritime History at the local level with a period of significance from her 1900 construction date to 1935 when she ceased to fish. She is a good example of the hull characteristics and general fishing form of the working Friendship sloop type during the period of significance and conveys the importance of this type of boat to ca. 1900 maritime activities along the Maine coast. Friendship sloops were once common along the mid-coast of Maine, and the Blackjack is one of the oldest of the type with a working design and the integrity to convey the significance of the Friendship sloops place in maritime history.