Daily AncestorLongshoreman
A longshoreman loaded and unloaded ships at a port; it is the usual American word for a dockworker.
The word is shortened from alongshore man, a man who worked along the shore. In Britain the same worker was called a docker, and other names include stevedore and lumper.
The 1930 census instructions name longshoremen, coal miners and laborers as men with very irregular hours, and say a longshoreman idle on the day asked about was to be counted as not at work, even if he made up the hours later in the week.
As seen in a recordOccupation and industry columns of the 1910 to 1940 census
Michael Hanlon, 38, Longshoreman, Docks
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Daily Ancestor. "Longshoreman." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/longshoreman. Last checked 2026-10-10.