Lettie G. Howard

The Lettie G. Howard is a historic schooner built in 1893 by the Arthur D. Story Shipyard in Essex, Massachusetts, for Captain Fred Howard, who named her after his daughter. Originally used in the North Atlantic cod and haddock fisheries, she later transitioned to the Gulf of Mexico’s red snapper fishery under E. E. Saunders & Co.

As motorized vessels took over, she was rebuilt in 1923 with a gas engine and renamed Mystic C. Later, she became a tourist attraction under the name Caviare, though the venture failed. The South Street Seaport Museum acquired her in the 1960s, restoring her original name and transforming her into a “living history” vessel for education and sail training.

In 2018, she partnered with the Flagship Niagara League in Erie, Pennsylvania, expanding her role in maritime education on the Great Lakes. Today, she continues to sail, inspiring new generations of traditional mariners.