Steamboats
Robert Fulton
early years of
Hudson River
Steamboats
1807 - 1824
Hudson River
Steamboats
before the
Civil War
1824 - 1860
Hudson River
Day Line
1863 - 1948
Thomas
Cornell
Steamboat Company
1837 - 1964
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Steamboats of the Hudson River
Robert Fulton 1909 |
Commercial steamboating on the Hudson River began with Robert Fulton´s successful steamboat trip from New York to Albany on August 14th, 1807. This was the first voyage of any considerable length made by a steamboat. Immediately following this demonstration, Robert Fulton started regular steamboat service on the Hudson River between New York City and Albany.
Fulton's partner, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, persuaded the New York State Legislature to give him the exclusive privilege of "navigating all boats that might be propelled by steam, on all waters within the territory or jurisdiction of the State, for the term of twenty years. The legal underpinning of his steamboat empire gave him control of the heavily traveled and lucrative route between New York City and Albany. The act allowed Fulton and Livingston to seize any steamboat that operated without their license, and to collect a penalty for every trip made.
It was not until the United States Supreme Court settled the dispute, known as Ogden v Gibbons (1824), that the river was opened to steamboats. This decision was a resounding defeat for the Fulton-Livingston interests, and effectively ended their monopoly. Anyone was now free to build and operate a steamboat on the Hudson River without interference from the courts. This decision launched a massive effort to put steamboats into service on the river. In 1819, there were only eight steamboats on the Hudson River. By 1840, there were over one hundred.
Steamboats introduced quick and reliable travel along the Hudson River. Steamboats were romantic and travel was an adventure. With the opening of the Erie, Champlain, and Delaware & Hudson canals, steamboat traffic increased tremendously. The Erie Canal established New York City as a center of finance and shipping, provided cheap transportation for Midwestern farm products, and offered an easy passage for immigrants to the Great Lakes Region. The Delaware & Hudson Canal supplied Pennsylvania Anthracite coal to New York City and established Rondout as a center for Hudson River tow boats.
Hudson River Steamboats before the Civil War — 1824 to 1860
Many new steamboats were rapidly introduced on the Hudson River after the Gibbons v Ogden Supreme Court decision. Not only for service between New York City and Albany, but steam ferries across the river and local steam service for many towns. This was a time of technological innovations. New ideas and new designs were built, and the size, speed, and comfort of steamboats dramatically increased. This was also a period of bare-knuckled capitalism. Cornelius Vanderbilt and Daniel Drew, names that by the end of the 19th century were deservedly included in that rogue’s gallery of“robber barons,” got their start in the Hudson River steamboat business
Hudson River Day Line — 1863 to 1948
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For over 150 years, steamboats carried freight and passengers on the Hudson River, but in 1948, regular steamboat service by the Hudson River Day Line ceased. On September 13, 1948, the Day Line steamboat Robert Fulton made its last run from Albany to New York City bringing to an end the era of gracious steamboat travel on the Hudson River.
Thomas Cornell Steamboat Company — 1837 to 1964
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In the 1830´s, Thomas Cornell came with a sailing sloop to Rondout to ship coal from the D&H Canal. A native of White Plains, N.Y, Cornell was just twenty-two years old. Until then, sailboats had done the work of carrying freight and passengers, but Cornell saw that steam-powered vessels were the future. The Hudson River was a busy waterway between the fast-growing New York metropolitan area and the cities, crop lands, timber, and mining regions of the West and North.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal linked the Pennsylvania coal fields to the Hudson River at its harbor town of Rondout, about one hundred miles north of New York City. In those booming years of growth and construction, there was plenty of business for steamboats plying the Hudson. New York City´s thriving metropolitan area needed coal from the D & H Canal, ice that was harvested in winter from the frozen river, building material produced in the mid-Hudson valley ( brick, lumber, stone, and cement) and agricultural products ( grain, livestock, dairy, fruit, and hay), which came from near and far.
Thomas Cornell's success was not modest. Operating from the Rondout headquarters where he repaired and maintained as many as 60 vessels, he at one time owned the biggest fleet of towboats in the country. He used the wealth generated by his business to gain a powerful position in his trade and to invest in other transportation industries.
The Mary Powell
 The Steamboat Mary Powell |
The steamboat Mary Powell, built in 1861, sailed on the waters of the Hudson River over a period of 55 years. She was one of the fastest steamboats of her time, was pleasing in appearance, and reliable. She became known as the "Queen of the Hudson." For virtually her entire career, her schedule was to leave Kingston early in the morning and make landings at Poughkeepsie, Milton, Newburgh and Cornwall, arriving at her pier in lower Manhattan in the late morning. On her return she would leave New York at 3:30 p.m. and arrive back at Kingston in the early evening.
The Mary Powell was always superbly maintained and had almost a yacht-like appearance. Known as a "family boat," Captain Anderson saw to it that all passengers conducted themselves properly. If they did not, it was said they ran the risk of being put ashore at the next landing.