Steamboats — Unique design

It was a unique design.

“A new steamboat is being built on the Hudson in which the sides are carried directly over the deck, enclosing it in the form of a dome. It is expected that this will render the best self-righting and much more seaworthy than ordinary steamboats,” The Elizabethtown Post & Gazette reported on March 2, 1882. “The boat is an experimental one, but if it is successful as anticipated, the intention is to build a line of ocean steamers on the same principals.”

In other steamboat news collected from historic newspapers of the region:

1925

• The steamer Chateaugay has been pulled from the waters of Lake Champlain for the first time in 22 years for a complete-overhauling and painting,” The Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on Nov. 12. “The task of getting the boat into dry dock was a big one, as the steamer weighs 700 tons.”

1896

“F. H. Smith and George Granger of Bolton are building a new steamer which will ply on the waters of Lake George next spring. It is for J. B. Simpson and will be twenty-eight feet and six feet long,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on Jan. 29. “It will be used in the spring and fall to save getting up steam on Mr. Simpson’s larger boat.”

1895

“The yacht Fanita, owned by J. B. Simpson of New York, has been undergoing extensive alterations at her winter quarters at The Sagamore, Lake George,” The Morning Star reported on Dec. 16. “For the purpose of cabin room, the craft was cut in two amidship and lengthened thirteen feet, making her eighty feet long. Her breadth of beam is eleven feet. The work was done by Ayer & Co. of New York, the builder of the yacht. F. B. Allen of Bolton, captain of the Fanita, is assisting in refitting her.”

1883

• “The new steamer, the consort of the Horicon, has been christened the Ticonderoga. It is expected that the new vessel will make his trial trip about September 1st,” The Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on Aug. 24.
• E. Z. Paradis, mayor of St. John’s, Quebec, was among the investors in a new steamboat line.

“The Lake Champlain and River Richelieu Steam Navigation Company has been organized at Rouses Point to carry passengers and freight between Whitehall and St. John’s, P. Q.,“ The Sentinel reported on Nov. 23. “It is reported that three new boats will be ready for business next spring.”

1882

• “The steamer Vermont commenced her regular trips for the season Monday the 29th. Leaves Westport going south at 10:50 A.m.; going north at 3 P.M.,” the Westport correspondent reported in The Post & Gazette on June 8.

Click here to read the recent previous steamboat history post.