17/08/2025
It was such a thrill/honor/delight to take this wonderful family from New Jersey around Bath to see sites related to their ancestor General Thomas W. Hyde, the founder of Bath Iron Works. When Nick (4th great grandchild - Hyde/Knight/Adams) called me to schedule it, he said his daughters are just getting old enough to ask questions and want to learn more. They were in Maine for vacation and Nick says it’s been many years since he’s been back to Bath. They took the Maine Maritime Museum’s afternoon cruise and saw Bath Iron Works up close. Then we met up for our tour - which was bits and pieces from all my tours. We went to the site of the iron foundry (group photo shown here) and the home where Tom and Annie raised their children in the 1870s on Washington Street. And then finally, the cemetery where the girls laid hearts on their ancestor’s grave. Note - their uncle (Nick’s brother) bears a strong resemblance to Thomas W.! I’ve been thinking a lot about Hyde’s legacy in Bath and I keep coming back to the fact that he named his shipyard *Bath Iron Works* not Hyde Iron Works. I can only infer he did this because he wanted to elevate the visibility of Bath, his hometown, as the country was transitioning from wood to steel ships. He hoped, no doubt like most others, that Bath would continue to be a center for shipbuilding. And it is. And my students who live and go to school in Bath can take pride in this historical place that has the same name as their city and we can *all* feel connected to it, even without the literal DNA. Thank you Nick and family and the and and and and and all who preserve our city’s history!
