The effect of these size restrictions was to force shipbuilders to pack as much cargo capacity as possible into a hull of the maximum size. The centerboards could be raised when passing through canals. The upper lakes schooners had finer lines and fewer restrictions on size than the canalers because they normally operated above the Welland Canal, but these schooners also carried centerboards. Little is known about the marine architecture, material culture, and shipboard life that existed aboard lakes schooners between the War of 1812 and the early 1850s. White was a seaman on the vessel.
Thunder Bay is particularly strong in examples of the glory days of Great Lakes commercial sail.
Thunder Bay also contains a number of Great Lakes sailing vessels that made trips in the early direct trade with saltwater ports. These boxy vessels were utilitarian craft meant to serve the ports, rivers, bays, piers, and even beaches in the largely unimproved Great Lakes from the War of 1812 through the early 20th century. They were an important part of 19th century commerce because they combined large cargo capacity with shallow draught and relatively low costs for construction and operation. By the late 19th century the sailing scow was well on its way toward obsolescence and the scow hull form was becoming widely used for unrigged barges like those square steel barges that are extensively used today. The first scow barges were of wood and later of steel.