Vessel Name – Frank Jones Class – sidewheel steamer Hull - Masts - 2 Designed by – William Pattee Build date - 1892 Built by – Bath Iron Works Built at – Bath, Maine Built for – Boston & Maine RR owned by Franklin Jones Named for – businessman, politician and brewer Franklin Jones of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Boston Power - inclined-compound engine – horizontal side wheel, powering small, narrow, higher-speed (35 rpm) feathering wheels – 1200 hp Gross tons - 1634 Capacity – 105 staterooms Length – 263’ Beam – 36’ Crew –Disposition - 1905 - sold to the Enterprise Line to work between Fall River & New York. 1908 - in service on the Hudson River between Albany and New York. 1915 - renamed “Fenimore” 1918 - requisitioned by U.S. Navy to carry naval stores during the WWI. June 22, 1918 she lay at anchor on the York River in Virginia full of ammunition. She caught fire and the resulting explosion completely destroyed her.
Description: Vessel Name – Frank Jones Class – sidewheel steamer Hull - Masts - 2 Designed by – William Pattee Build date - 1892 Built by – Bath Iron Works Built at – Bath, Maine Built for – Boston & Maine RR owned by Franklin Jones Named for – businessman, politician and brewer Franklin Jones of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Boston Power - inclined-compound engine – horizontal side wheel, powering small, narrow, higher-speed (35 rpm) feathering wheels – 1200 hp Gross tons - 1634 Capacity – 105 staterooms Length – 263’ Beam – 36’ Crew –Disposition - 1905 - sold to the Enterprise Line to work between Fall River & New York. 1908 - in service on the Hudson River between Albany and New York. 1915 - renamed “Fenimore” 1918 - requisitioned by U.S. Navy to carry naval stores during the WWI. June 22, 1918 she lay at anchor on the York River in Virginia full of ammunition. She caught fire and the resulting explosion completely destroyed her. [show more]
A freight bill for 3 casks of lime for Capt. James Long (1814-1895) signed by Jo. R. Freeman [John T.R. Freeman (1838-1916)] and paid at Mt. Desert on November 2, 1853. As can be seen from the account below, "Rockland" was supposed to have been built in 1853 and to have gone into service in 1854, but this bill of lading clearly shows that she was working in the Mt. Desert area as early as November 1853. She may have gone on the water in 1853 and done some freight work in the area before she started her career on the passenger route in 1854. The 1857 date may just be an error.
Description: A freight bill for 3 casks of lime for Capt. James Long (1814-1895) signed by Jo. R. Freeman [John T.R. Freeman (1838-1916)] and paid at Mt. Desert on November 2, 1853. As can be seen from the account below, "Rockland" was supposed to have been built in 1853 and to have gone into service in 1854, but this bill of lading clearly shows that she was working in the Mt. Desert area as early as November 1853. She may have gone on the water in 1853 and done some freight work in the area before she started her career on the passenger route in 1854. The 1857 date may just be an error. [show more]
"In 1893, the 75-foot "Golden Rod," slid down the ways at the Barbour yard in Brewer - destined first for service at Mt. Desert Island. During the years she ran "round the hills" between Hancock Point and Southwest Harbor, under command of Captain W.M. Crosby, she became so popular with the ladies at Bar Harbor that they named a social club after her…" - Penobscot Bay, Mount Desert and Eastport Steamboat Album by Allie Ryan, p. 28-30 - 1972 “The Fourth – How it was Celebrated by the Band at Southwest Harbor - …[during the festivities] To the Bar Harbor people there was nothing pleasanter for the day than the sail back and forth on the Golden Rod. Capt. Crosby was extremely courteous to his passengers.” – The Bar Harbor Record, July 6, 1895
Description: "In 1893, the 75-foot "Golden Rod," slid down the ways at the Barbour yard in Brewer - destined first for service at Mt. Desert Island. During the years she ran "round the hills" between Hancock Point and Southwest Harbor, under command of Captain W.M. Crosby, she became so popular with the ladies at Bar Harbor that they named a social club after her…" - Penobscot Bay, Mount Desert and Eastport Steamboat Album by Allie Ryan, p. 28-30 - 1972 “The Fourth – How it was Celebrated by the Band at Southwest Harbor - …[during the festivities] To the Bar Harbor people there was nothing pleasanter for the day than the sail back and forth on the Golden Rod. Capt. Crosby was extremely courteous to his passengers.” – The Bar Harbor Record, July 6, 1895 [show more]
See “Maine Lakes Steamboat Album" by Walter M. Macdougall et al, published by Down East Magazine, Camden, Maine, 1976, p. 10-12 for another photograph of the vessel and information about the West Branch vessels.
Description: See “Maine Lakes Steamboat Album" by Walter M. Macdougall et al, published by Down East Magazine, Camden, Maine, 1976, p. 10-12 for another photograph of the vessel and information about the West Branch vessels.
"The "J.T. Morse" was the last of the picturesque fleet of sidewheelers whose gleaming white hulls and long foaming white wakes were once such a decorative part of the Maine scene, set in the blue of Penobscot Bay against the green background of the mountains and the wooded offshore islands. The vessel was designed specifically for the Rockland-Bar Harbor Line, connecting the overnight Boston-to-Bangor steamers at Rockland. She was ordered as a replacement for the sidewheeler "Mount Desert," built at Bath in 1879, which by the turn of the century had become too small to handle the growing summer passenger and freight business…" "The "Morse" ran her last regular season in Maine in 1931…Steamer patronage had dwindled because of the competition from the automobile, and it was no longer profitable to operate her…" - Penobscot Bay, Mount Desert and Eastport Steamboat Album by Allie Ryan, p. 6 to 11 - 1972. These six pages tell the complete story of the "J.T. Morse."
Description: "The "J.T. Morse" was the last of the picturesque fleet of sidewheelers whose gleaming white hulls and long foaming white wakes were once such a decorative part of the Maine scene, set in the blue of Penobscot Bay against the green background of the mountains and the wooded offshore islands. The vessel was designed specifically for the Rockland-Bar Harbor Line, connecting the overnight Boston-to-Bangor steamers at Rockland. She was ordered as a replacement for the sidewheeler "Mount Desert," built at Bath in 1879, which by the turn of the century had become too small to handle the growing summer passenger and freight business…" "The "Morse" ran her last regular season in Maine in 1931…Steamer patronage had dwindled because of the competition from the automobile, and it was no longer profitable to operate her…" - Penobscot Bay, Mount Desert and Eastport Steamboat Album by Allie Ryan, p. 6 to 11 - 1972. These six pages tell the complete story of the "J.T. Morse." [show more]
Last of four ships of the Kaiser class, she was also the last German ship to have been built with four funnels. She was engaged in transatlantic service between her homeport of Bremen and New York until the outbreak of World War I when she sought safety at Bar Harbor. She was carrying c. $10,000,000 in gold and $3,400,000 in silver. "One morning in the summer of 1914 my husband got up and looked out the window, then called me and said in a tone of utter amazement, “There’s an ocean liner in the harbor.” Everyone knows the story of the "Kronprinzessin Cecile," how the news of the war had overtaken her in mid-ocean with her cargo of $10 million in American gold and a full complement of 1200 passengers…" - "Only in Maine: Selections from Down East Magazine," edited by Duane Doolittle, foreword by John Gould, “Old Bar Harbor Days” chapter by Marian L. Peabody, Downeast Enterprise Incorporated, Camden, Maine, 1969, p. 244.
Description: Last of four ships of the Kaiser class, she was also the last German ship to have been built with four funnels. She was engaged in transatlantic service between her homeport of Bremen and New York until the outbreak of World War I when she sought safety at Bar Harbor. She was carrying c. $10,000,000 in gold and $3,400,000 in silver. "One morning in the summer of 1914 my husband got up and looked out the window, then called me and said in a tone of utter amazement, “There’s an ocean liner in the harbor.” Everyone knows the story of the "Kronprinzessin Cecile," how the news of the war had overtaken her in mid-ocean with her cargo of $10 million in American gold and a full complement of 1200 passengers…" - "Only in Maine: Selections from Down East Magazine," edited by Duane Doolittle, foreword by John Gould, “Old Bar Harbor Days” chapter by Marian L. Peabody, Downeast Enterprise Incorporated, Camden, Maine, 1969, p. 244. [show more]
The Lewiston was the sister ship to Steamer Forest City. She was built in New York in 1856 and operated on the Boston - Bangor line. She had a walking beam engine.
Description: The Lewiston was the sister ship to Steamer Forest City. She was built in New York in 1856 and operated on the Boston - Bangor line. She had a walking beam engine.