Lore’s sons, J.C. Lore Jr. and G.I. Rupert Lore, managed the business together until 1961 and maintained a fleet of three boats for oyster buying and harvesting. Both the William B. Tennison and the Sidney B. Riggin were converted bugeyes. The third vessel, the Pengui, was a Hooper Island draketail workboat. The Tennison is now a national historic landmark and conducts sails and tours out of CMM.
Throughout the years, the Lore Company was involved in other ventures besides seafood processing, including boat rentals, charter fishing, a bait store, and even a school boat, which proved to be more useful than a bus on Solomons Island. But after World War II, the oyster industry began to change. Many watermen and shuckers left a life on the water for better paying jobs in the military. By the late 20th century, a combination of pollution, disease, and over-harvesting led to a sharp decline in local oysters. By 1978, J.C. Lore and Sons would close.
In 2001 the oyster house was designated a national historic landmark, and this summer, the Calvert Marine Museum will be hosting free Lore Oyster House Days. Visiting the museum will be like a step back in time: tie on an apron, become a shucker, and experience the challenges and rewards of a piecework wage earner. Along the way, try your hand at oyster tonging, learn to tie a tow line and coil a rope, measure oysters with a special tool, and follow the path an oyster takes through the packing house from unloading at the dock to the shipping room. Mark your calendars for July 16, and August 20 when the oyster house will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. for a free, immersive experience.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 - 09:00
The J.C. Lore Company of Solomons, MD, was founded by Joseph Cobb Lore in 1888. In its heyday, it was one of the largest and most successful seafood packing companies in Southern Maryland. Lore established his own oyster house in 1922, known as the J. C. Lore and Sons, Inc., Seafood Packing Plant, or simply the Lore Oyster House. The company specialized in packing and shipping Patuxent River fish, crabs, and oysters. After World War II, their focus became primarily oysters.
The original Lore Oyster House was destroyed by a powerful hurricane in 1933 and then rebuilt in 1934. That building still stands today and has been expanded several times over the years. At the height of the oyster industry, the packing house employed about 65 people. Many of the oyster shuckers were local African American men and women who were paid a set rate for each gallon of oysters they shucked. According to the Calvert Marine Museum (CMM), an experienced shucker would be able to complete 10 to 12 gallons of oysters per day. Some of the best shuckers could produce about two gallons of shucked oysters an hour.
Lore’s sons, J.C. Lore Jr. and G.I. Rupert Lore, managed the business together until 1961 and maintained a fleet of three boats for oyster buying and harvesting. Both the William B. Tennison and the Sidney B. Riggin were converted bugeyes. The third vessel, the Pengui, was a Hooper Island draketail workboat. The Tennison is now a national historic landmark and conducts sails and tours out of CMM.
Throughout the years, the Lore Company was involved in other ventures besides seafood processing, including boat rentals, charter fishing, a bait store, and even a school boat, which proved to be more useful than a bus on Solomons Island. But after World War II, the oyster industry began to change. Many watermen and shuckers left a life on the water for better paying jobs in the military. By the late 20th century, a combination of pollution, disease, and over-harvesting led to a sharp decline in local oysters. By 1978, J.C. Lore and Sons would close.
In 2001 the oyster house was designated a national historic landmark, and this summer, the Calvert Marine Museum will be hosting free Lore Oyster House Days. Visiting the museum will be like a step back in time: tie on an apron, become a shucker, and experience the challenges and rewards of a piecework wage earner. Along the way, try your hand at oyster tonging, learn to tie a tow line and coil a rope, measure oysters with a special tool, and follow the path an oyster takes through the packing house from unloading at the dock to the shipping room. Mark your calendars for July 16, and August 20 when the oyster house will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. for a free, immersive experience.
Lore’s sons, J.C. Lore Jr. and G.I. Rupert Lore, managed the business together until 1961 and maintained a fleet of three boats for oyster buying and harvesting. Both the William B. Tennison and the Sidney B. Riggin were converted bugeyes. The third vessel, the Pengui, was a Hooper Island draketail workboat. The Tennison is now a national historic landmark and conducts sails and tours out of CMM.
Throughout the years, the Lore Company was involved in other ventures besides seafood processing, including boat rentals, charter fishing, a bait store, and even a school boat, which proved to be more useful than a bus on Solomons Island. But after World War II, the oyster industry began to change. Many watermen and shuckers left a life on the water for better paying jobs in the military. By the late 20th century, a combination of pollution, disease, and over-harvesting led to a sharp decline in local oysters. By 1978, J.C. Lore and Sons would close.
In 2001 the oyster house was designated a national historic landmark, and this summer, the Calvert Marine Museum will be hosting free Lore Oyster House Days. Visiting the museum will be like a step back in time: tie on an apron, become a shucker, and experience the challenges and rewards of a piecework wage earner. Along the way, try your hand at oyster tonging, learn to tie a tow line and coil a rope, measure oysters with a special tool, and follow the path an oyster takes through the packing house from unloading at the dock to the shipping room. Mark your calendars for July 16, and August 20 when the oyster house will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. for a free, immersive experience.