Fyfe’s Shipyard Inc. (1905 – 1970) – Hempstead Harbor
Fyfe’s Shipyard Inc. was founded by James Fyfe, a Scottish-trained shipwright whose life reflected the rise, adaptation, and endurance of traditional shipbuilding in the twentieth century. Fyfe’s success was driven not by capital or early connections, but by exceptional skill, perseverance, and an unyielding work ethic.
Fyfe served his apprenticeship at Clydebank, Scotland, before going to sea as a ship’s carpenter. After arriving in Brooklyn, he left his vessel and joined the Consolidated Ship Corporation in Morris Heights, New York, and later worked at the Bob Woods Shipyard on City Island. In 1905, he placed his wife, Isabella MacDonald of Scotland, their young son, and his tools aboard a wooden barge and had it towed through Long Island Sound to Hempstead Harbor. Going ashore at Glenwood Landing, he established his own shipyard. At the time, Fyfe reportedly had just seventy-five cents to his name, relying entirely on his skill, determination, and willingness to work relentlessly.
Fyfe’s first job was modest—a cup rack for a customer’s vessel. Lacking materials, he bicycled four miles to Glen Cove to purchase a piece of mahogany, pedaled it back, and immediately set to work. This episode became emblematic of Fyfe’s character: resourceful, tireless, and unwilling to turn away any honest job.
A pivotal moment in the yard’s early history occurred when the noted yacht designer J. Beavor Webb, educated in Rothesay, Scotland, stopped by to obtain an estimate for repair work. Recognizing their shared background, Webb warned Fyfe that his bid was far too low and would result in a loss. The two formed a lasting friendship. Webb became an adviser to Fyfe, offering guidance on pricing and introducing him to prominent members of the yachting fraternity, including J. P. Morgan. Fyfe later remarked that once Morgan became a customer, “you got all the other business.” According to family recollections, Morgan soon became a familiar figure at the yard. He was said to visit several days a week, sitting out on the dock with James Fyfe as the two men “swapped lines” and talked ships—an informal ritual that symbolized the yard’s standing within elite yachting circles.
As the business expanded, the Fyfe family assumed distinct roles. One son, Robert Fyfe, left to study naval architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while his brother Archibald—known as Archie—joined their father at the shipyard. In time, James Fyfe decided to step back from daily operations and turned management of the firm over to Archie. As Robert later recalled in a 1970 newspaper interview, his father told Archie he was tired, and that from that point forward it was up to him “to make it or break it.” Archie accepted the responsibility, guiding the yard through its most active years.
During the fast and furious 1920s, Fyfe’s Shipyard reached a peak and, in one reporter’s words, was a “beehive” of activity. The yard hummed with the sounds of ship repairs and outfitting. From the ways emerged stately, mirror-smooth sailing hulls and long, sleek powerboats in steady procession. Hempstead Harbor filled with vessels owned by affluent commuters, crowding every available mooring. Captains and crews boarded these yachts and departed to collect their owners for the hour’s run to the New York Yacht Club pier at 23rd Street in Manhattan. “It was really a jumping place here then,” Fyfe later recalled, drawing deeply on his pipe as he looked across what had become, decades later, a largely deserted yard.
During World War I, the shipyard contributed to the war effort by building coal barges and repairing seaplane hulls. The postwar prosperity proved short-lived. After the economic collapse of 1929, the luxury yacht market declined sharply, but Fyfe’s emphasis on repair and maintenance work rather than new construction allowed the business to remain viable.
The shipyard suffered a major setback in early August 1937, when a fire swept through the property. One employee was critically burned, and a firefighter was injured after falling amid debris. Two vessels were destroyed: the luxury yacht Areus and the speedboat Kilraine, each valued at approximately $25,000. While damage to the shipyard itself was substantial, reports issued almost immediately after the fire placed the loss at approximately $100,000.
When World War II began, business initially slowed, but soon Fyfe’s Shipyard was in the thick of war production. The yard secured a contract to perform final fitting-out work on PT boats built by Elco in Bayonne, New Jersey. Directed by Archibald Fyfe, this effort transformed the yard into a major wartime employer, with more than 200 workers at the height of production.
James Fyfe remained closely identified with the shipyard he had built through decades of labor until his death in December 1969 at the age of ninety-four. Archibald Fyfe died the following April. In January 1970, Archie had placed the shipyard on the market, and after his death it was sold by his widow on December 14, 1970, for $300,000—despite a cloudy title—to real estate broker Herbert Arnold and scientist-industrialist David Pall. Nine months later, the property was resold for $520,000 to the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO), marking the end of Fyfe’s Shipyard as an operating maritime facility.
The history of Fyfe’s Shipyard remains inseparable from the development of yachting, ship repair, and wartime production on Hempstead Harbor. Above all, it stands as a testament to James Fyfe’s dedication, perseverance, and work ethic—and to a family enterprise that, at its height, was a true beehive of maritime life.