Goldsmith’s Boat Shop in Southold, N.Y., at the eastern end of Long Island, this year turns 100. The business started in founder Alvah Goldsmith’s garage and has been continuously run by the family for a century.
Goldsmith purchased his first Elto engine in 1922 and wrote a letter to Ole Evinrude about the outboard. Evinrude wrote back and asked if Goldsmith would become his first area dealer. At the time, the only requirement for him to become a dealer was that he purchase a second outboard for display purposes. Goldsmith bought the engine against his parents’ wishes and sold them on the front porch of his home in Peconic, N.Y.
The company recently marked the milestone with a gathering at the marina. “It’s amazing,” Craig Goldsmith told patch.com. “This is what it’s all about and always has been. Family, friends, customers.”
In 1931, Goldsmith moved the company and built a marina at Founder’s Landing in Southold. He followed that with the purchase of a brickyard on Mill Creek in Southold and created a second marina. The old chimney from the yard still stands as something of a beacon for boaters.
During World War II, Goldsmith’s Boat Shop built rearming boats for the U.S. Navy. It employed as many as 30 men around the clock to manufacture the vessels, ranging from 25 to 33 feet.
Today, Goldsmith’s Boat Shop is a full-service marina on Mill Creek in Southold, with 110 in-slips for boats up to 35 feet. The company is a dealer for Scout, Achilles, DuraNautic boats, and Load Rite trailers.
