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ABOVE: HARTGE YACHT YARD IN THE EARLY 1960’S

AN ABBREVIATED HISTORY OF HARTGE YACHT YARD

Henry and his wife, Emilie, were the first Hartges to take up residence on the shores of West River at what is now known as Shady Side.  They had emigrated from Gotha, Germany to Baltimore in 1832.  Henry, a renowned craftsman of fine pianos, purchased almost all the waterfront on the west side of Shady Side where he built pianos and raised a family.  In 1865, his grandson, Emile Alexander Hartge (great-grandfather to Alex Schlegel, HYY owner and general manager), started building boats in Shady Side.  In 1879, Emile and his wife, Susan, purchased 17.5 acres in Galesville where they built a house, raised ten children, and started the boatyard.

Boat building was at first a sideline for “Cap’n Emile”.  He had a farm and orchard, sold lumber, and hauled oysters and other goods with his schooner or bugeye ketch. He also captained Daisy Archer, the State of Maryland’s schooner that policed oyster beds to protect them from oyster pirates coming from Virginia and elsewhere.  At least one gunfight was reported in the papers. Captain Emile built his first boats under an oak tree here on the point called “Whitestake”.  On this point he designed and built some of the best of the famous old log canoe work boats that were judged by how well they raced (we have a copy of an article from the Annapolis Evening Capital of July 27, 1897 about Cap’n Emile challenging the owner of an Eastern Shore log canoe to race against his William V. Wilson).

One of Captain Emile’s sons, Ernest Henry (Dick) Hartge, continued the boat building business and became known up and down the Chesapeake Bay as the designer and builder of several celebrated small sailboats, including the still popular “Chesapeake 20” as well as the “Albatross” and “Sea Witch”.  In his lifetime, Dick built somewhere in the area of 200 pleasure and work boats ranging up to 52 feet in length.

Cap’n Oscar (Alex’s grandfather) was Emile’s eldest child who, at seventeen, was placed in charge of a schooner which carried oysters, lumber, produce, and other freight around the Bay.  After many years as a captain of working boats and pleasure yachts, and to put his own seven sons to work, Cap’n Oscar took over the boat repair and maintenance from his brother, Dick, who continued designing and building boats until his death in 1979. 

“Buck” Schlegel (Alex’s father) married Oscar’s youngest daughter, Elsie, and worked for Dick Hartge in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and as a partner at Hartge Yacht Yard in the later 1950’s and early 1960’s.  From the mid-1960’s and until the late 1970’s, Retired Marine Colonel Red Miller, an acquaintance of Buck, became manager of all Hartge businesses: Hartge Yacht Yard, Hartge Yacht Sales, Hartge Yacht Charters, and Hartge Yacht Insurance. In late 1978, when Cap’n Oscar’s sons, Buddy and Emile, decided to retire from the yard, Alex then ran the business for 30 years. 

In 2009, a few cousins and siblings took over the marina and renamed it Hartge Yacht Harbor. Alex moved the business of Hartge Yacht Yard, including 30 + employees across Galesville to the historic Woodfields Ice and Seafood facility. Alex and Hartges continued to operate out of Woodfield’s until spring of 2023. In June 2021 Hartge Yacht Harbor was sold to Hamilton Chaney of Herrington Harbor Marinas. In September 2022, Alex and Hartge Yacht Yard were invited back to their original location to run the yard service while Hamilton continued with the operation of renting slips and moorings. 

If you would like to learn more about the history of Hartge Yacht Yard, there are copies of A History of Hartge Yacht Yard, written by Lawrence and Billy Hartge, for sale at our office/ ship store.

Contact Hartge Yacht Harbor to inquire about slips or mooring space and rental.