Built in 1882 in Patchogue, New York, she is one of four surviving two-masted wooden-hulled schooners, once the most common vessel in the American coasting trade.

When built, it was originally fastened with wooden treenails, but these were replaced by galvanized ship spikes during restoration.

Relatively small ships like this were the workhorse of the coasting fleet, carrying goods and supplies to areas where road access at the time was difficult or impossible.

[3] In 1939 she was chartered by Frank Swift, who had just two years earlier seized on the idea of using schooners for passenger excursions, since they had become financially unviable in the coasting freight trade.

She has since then served in the "windjammer" fleet, providing sailing cruises to paying customers.