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rented or leased riverfront property until 1841. Augustus did establish a shipyard in Sandusky. Erie County Vermilion Vermilion, at the mouth of the Vermilion River, is now a well- known yacht harbor and the home of the Great Lakes Historical Society Museum. For a span of thirty-six years, many schooners were built along its banks. Only two sidewheelers and two propellers, exclusive of tugs, were built there. Vermilion was a relative latecomer to the Ohio shipbuilding scene. The reason for this was the large sand bar at the mouth of the river, over which there was only two feet of water. In about 1841, Major Borns of the Corps of Engineers built a pier and dredged a channel. Several years later a lighthouse was built and further dredging finally provided a channel with a fourteen foot depth. The first vessel of any consequence to be built at Vermilion was the steamer Vermillion (sic), which was launched on August 2, 1838, by Burton S. Goodsell. Her model and finish was spoken of as being "admirable specimens of western mechanism."88 Goodsell's yard was on the west bank of the river, between Huron and Lake Streets. The steamer Missouri was launched by Goodsell on March 12, 1840. She was propelled by a high pressure horizontal engine which was purchased at Pittsburgh for $18,000. An additional $3,000 was needed to transport it to Erie where it was placed in the hull. The upholstering bill of the vessel was $4,000.89 In 1841 Goodsell built the schooner South America for Ahira Cobb, a merchant in Birmingham, Ohio, and Alva Bradley. From 1842 to 1848 Goodsell also built the schooners Birmingham, Bingham, and Ellington. In 1849, the gold of California attracted Goodsell. He sold his yard to Isaac W. Nicholas and Captain Alva Bradley. Burton Parsons actually ran the yard and was the general foreman, although from time to time Joseph M. Keatings and John F. Squires were brought in to build vessels. Isaac W. Nicholas was born in St. Albans., Vermont, in 1815. In 1829 the Nicholas family moved to Florence Corners, near Milan, Ohio, later moving to Vermilion. Here Isaac entered the employ of Burton Goodsell where he learned the shipbuilding trade. He later moved to Cleveland where he died in 1900. 53