Carleton, Norwood & Company
Dates
- Usage: 1849 - 1941
- Usage: 1844 - 1849
Historical Note
The firm Carleton, Norwood & Co. began as several precursor companies. In the late 1830s, William Carleton (1780-1841) operated a store, a shipyard, and a lime manufacturing business in the Camden-Rockport area of Maine, then known as Goose River. After his death in 1841, his son Samuel Dexter Carleton (1816-1892) inherited the businesses and partnered with Joshua G. Norwood (1816-1876) under the new firm Carleton & Norwood. Soon afterwards, Samuel Carleton's brother, Philander J. Carleton (1825-1899), joined the firm, and in 1849 it was renamed Carleton, Norwood & Co. With Samuel's death in 1892, Philander's son Ralph W. Carleton (1861-1927) entered into partnership with him. After his father's death, Ralph brought on his brother Captain Frank P.J. Carleton (1852-1941) as co-partner. Frank Carleton was the last surviving member of the firm upon his death.
At various points in its existence, Carleton, Norwood & Co. conducted business in the same spheres as William Carleton's original businesses, with particular strength as shipbuilders. Master shipbuilder John Pascal (1818-1902) was responsible for the bulk of ships built at the company's Rockport shipyard. He came to Rockport in 1842, and completed the first ship built for the firm in 1844. At the time of his death, he had built 62 vessels for the shipyard. His son Chester L. Pascal (-1939) also joined the shipyard. One of the firm's best known vessels was the Frederick Billings, a four-masted, square-rigged ship which had the distinction of being the largest built in Penobscot Bay at the time of its completion in 1885. In addition to shipbuilding, Carleton, Norwood & Co. owned and managed a number of vessels, including many built in their shipyard.
The firm also ran a successful lime manufacturing business. William Carleton had operated a kiln in Rockport; his son's firm expanded the business to include several kilns in Camden. In 1866, Carleton, Norwood & Co. acquired part of the Jacobs farm in Camden village, which they used as a limerock quarry to supply their kilns. Other Carleton family members were involved with their own lime businesses: William's sons William Carleton, Jr. and Elbridge E. Carleton manufactured lime under the firm of Carleton & Co.; their brother Granville E. Carleton owned and operated another quarry in the area. In 1886, the quarry owners collaboratively built a railroad to shuttle lime between quarries and kilns; they ceased to operate the railroad in 1894. Beginning in 1900, the newly formed Rockland-Rockport Lime Co. acquired the majority of quarries and kilns in the area, including those owned by Carleton, Norwood & Co., which ended the firm's involvement with the lime business.
In addition to shipbuilding and lime manufacturing, the firm also operated a Camden store. In 1870, Carleton, Norwood & Co. bought an interest in the store and ran the business for just over a decade. In 1882, Philander J. Carleton’s son Joseph Hall Carleton (1859-1903) and William H. Pascal (1855-1916) took it over and it continued under the name Carleton, Pascal & Co. Ownership passed out of the hands of the Carleton family after a number of years, and the store continues to operate in 2022 under the name French and Brawn Market Place.
Places
- Rockport Harbor (Me.) (Residence)