Milestones in Chris-Craft history.

[Bill Basler]

1874: The Smith brothers, Chris and Henry, build their first wooden boat. (1876: Custer’s Last Stand at Little Big Horn.)
1884: Smith Brothers Boat Builders open their first mass-production facility in Algonac, MI.
1890: Smith Brothers Boat Builders introduce their first steam-powered boats ranging from 25 to 40 feet.
1901: Company changes its name to Chris Smith & Company Boat Builders and Boat Livery. (1903: Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk, NC.)
1910: The Smith-Ryan Boat Company is formed, focusing on building fast, economically priced runabout boats for mass market distribution. Products debut at New York and Chicago Boat Shows. (1912: Titanic hits iceberg and sinks in Atlantic Ocean.)
1914-1919: Chris Smith Boats win six consecutive Gold Cup racing awards. (1914: Panama Canal opens, joining the Atlantic and the Pacific)
1922: Chris Smith & Sons Boat Company is formed in Algonac.
1924: Chris-Craft becomes a standardized brand name.
1927: Chris-Craft recognized as world’s largest builder of mahogany constructed power boats. Jay Smith, Chris’s son, is appointed President and General Manager, a position he would hold for the next 31 years before his retirement.
1935: Feeling the effects of the Depression, sales weaken tremendously. The line is narrowed,and the company goes back to the basics of building runabouts.
1939: Chris-Craft begins building patrol boats, utility launches, and rescue vessels for the United States Navy and Army (12,000 military vessels by 1945).
1950: Chris-Craft offers 139 different recreational power boat models.
1955: Chris-Craft manufacturers its first fiberglass boat. (1956: Elvis Presley gains in popularity with hit song Hound Dog.)
1960: The Smith Family sells the company to Shields & Company and National AutomotiveFibers, Inc.
1962: Company renamed Chris-Craft Industries, Inc. (1969: Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon)
1971: Chris-Craft builds their last mahogany boat— a 57-foot Constellation™, which completes the transition to fiberglass products.
1980:Chris-Craft boat manufacturing operations are sold to George Dale Murray.
1982: Murray buys Viking Boat Company, renaming it Chris-Craft Sportdecks™.
1989: Outboard Marine Corporation purchases Chris-Craft Boats.
1999: Chris-Craft brand celebrates 125th Anniversary.
2000: OMC files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Chris-Craft operations are put on hold.
2001: Chris-Craft was sold to London investment group, Stellican. Operations resumed and new owners revealed plans for the future with the introduction of three new Heritage models and a 43-foot Roamer Yacht.
2002: Chris-Craft unveils plans for two cuddy models on the Launch hulls and larger models up to 60 feet.
2004: Chris-Craft launches the Roamer 40 at the Miami International Boat Show. Chris-Craft celebrates its 130th Anniversary.
2006: Chris-Craft introduces the Roamer 40 with the IPS system, the new Launch 22, the Speedster Woody Edition, and the Lancer Rumble at the Miami International Boat Show.