Description
August 1889 photograph of President Benjamin Harrison and his Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy, guests of the Hon. Arthur Sewall, addressing a crowd of onlookers from the steps of the flag-draped Customs House.
This trip was to inspect the conditions of the city's harbor and shipyards.
The encouraging results led to Bath Iron Works pursuing a contract for two steel gun-boats. The contract was awarded and led to the first Maine-built steel vessels.
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