Statement of Significance (as of designation - December 4, 1992):
Built in 1883 to dredge the Long Island Sound oyster beds, CHRISTEEN is the oldest surviving working example of the oyster sloop, a round-bottomed, gaff-rigged, one-masted vessel used to pull oyster dredges or to serve as a platform for tonging. At the turn of the century, oysters were the chief fishery product of the country, requiring large fleets of two-masted schooners, sloops, and workboats to work the beds.