History
of
Flanigan Brothers Boatyard

In 1931 Hall Mulford Yachts Inc. built a wood frame building and a small railway in Fairton, New Jersey, and started making motor yachts. They continued until the war at which point they closed and never reopened. In 1950 Ralph and Clarence Flanigan were working as Carpenters, building and remodeling houses. They bought the old Hall Mulford building to use as a workshop. They planned on making window sashes and doors as well as trim for the houses they were building. In the first week that Flanigan bros owned it someone stopped in and asked them to haul a boat on the railway next to the building. It has been a boatyard ever since. From left to right, Ralph Flanigan, Sam Pole (boat owner), Clarence Flanigan, Donald Flanigan celebrate the christening of the Oculista, which was built from the ground up at Flanigan Brothers.
	The Oculista was built by Flanigan Bros for Doctor Sam Pole. It was launched in 1970 and was the only boat built from start to finish by the brothers. At left, the launch of the Oculista.
Clarence Ogden Flanigan was born June 16, 1902, the second of 8 children. While working for Shoemaker farms in 1929 he injured his arm in a machine, then lost it due to gangrene, but continued to work harder and faster than most men do with two arms. He had special techniques for everything from washing his hand, to patching a roof, to tying his shoes. Till his dying day (at the ripe old age of 99), he continued to work, stripping wire and "cleaning up the neighborhood". At right, Clarence cleans up trash along the road. The way he figured if he had to pay for trash removal, he would leave the city something to remove.
	Ralph Flanigan, a.k.a. "shortpants" was the younger of the two brothers. Ralph most always had a runabout and was always "messing about" in boats
Flanigan Brothers continues its tradition of fine craftmanship on some of the oldest wooden boats in the country. The Maggie Myers, the oldest working oyster boat in the Delaware bay, is still being serviced at our yard. At right, current owner, Donald Flanigan with son Bryan.