The Steamboats of Rondout

The D&H Canal (as opposed to the D&H Canal Company) had a mixed relationship with steam power. On the one hand, the steam locomotive never was able to transport coal from Carbondale to Honesdale. The Stourbridge Lion and its brethren, the first steam locomotives in America, could not be used on the Gravity Railroad because they were too heavy. More significantly, the steam railroads proved to be strong competitors for the Canal's business and eventually forced the D&H Canal Company to abandon the Canal in 1898 in favor of rail transport.

Steam engines were also very important to the D&H Canal throughout its history. The Gravity Railroad used fixed steam engines to haul the coal cars on the inclines. At the other end of the D&H canalway at Rondout, steam engines were used to power the coal elevators that moved the coal from canal boats to Hudson River boats. Rondout based steamboats were also a boon to the D&H Canal. They would prove to play an essential part in transporting coal from the Carbondale mines to New York City, other Hudson River communities and beyond.

From the very start it was evident that the steamboat would play a role on the D&H canal. In fact, the 1826 trip from Rondout to inspect the newly completed Lock 1 at Eddyville was on the steam powered Morning Star. On board were Maurice Wurts, company president John Bolton and engineers John Jervis and James McEntee.

Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat had already opened the Hudson to steamboat transport with its maiden voyage in 1807. In February 1828, ten months before the first shipment of coal was delivered to New York City, the managers of the canal company contracted for a steamboat to be built to carry coal three miles from the Canal's terminus at Eddyville down the Rondout to its Hudson River boatyards. The side-wheeler Pittston was famous mid-century for plying this route with coal boats in tow.

Sailing ships were predominant on the Hudson in 1828. In fact, the first shipment of D&H coal to New York City in December 1828 was on the sailing sloop Toleration. Nevertheless, when the D&H opened for traffic it was clear that steamships would be used to help distribute the coal delivered to Rondout on 10-ton canal boats. During the 1830's David Mapes had the contract to haul D&H coal barges with his side-wheeler General Jackson. During this period, sailing ships still played a central role in carrying D&H coal. In the spring and summer of 1833, for example, over 500 sloops and schooners were loaded with coal at Rondout.

With the arrival of canal boats capable of carrying 30 tons in the 1840's and over 130 tons in the 1850's, the increased volume of coal dictated the use of steamboats. Sailing ships were no longer practical to transport coal on the Hudson since they were slow and couldn't carry as much coal as a raft of coal barges towed by steamboat. Coal was plentiful to power the steamboats thanks to the D&H Canal. Steamboats had the advantage of not being subject to the windless spells often encountered in the Hudson Highlands. They could also run later in the year and start earlier since they were able to break up the river ice that sailing ships could not.

In 1850, Thomas Cornell obtained the contract for D&H Canal Company towing. He was able to build a near monopoly in the Hudson River steamboat business in the post-Civil War years along with his son-in-law Samuel Decker Coykendall. This steamship empire was based at Rondout and at its peak owned as many as 60 steamboats, the biggest fleet of its kind in the country at the time. In essence, Cornell's steamship empire was built on D&H coal.

In addition to coal, Cornell boats transported Hudson River bricks, Rosendale cement, block ice cut from the Hudson in winter, bluestone from Ulster County as well as Orange and Sullivan Counties via the D&H Canal, agricultural products, leather and wood products. Grain from the Midwest via the Erie Canal and baled hay for the thousands of horses in New York City were also carried on barges towed by Cornell steamboats.

Thomas Cornell saw the opportunities that the emerging rail networks held and, using the wealth produced by his steamships, turned enthusiastically to the railroad business. He established four small railroads that helped open the Catskill Mountains to tourists. They were also instrumental in establishing the Catskill dairy industry since they provided a fast route to New York City via steamers docked at the railheads.

In 1898, with the closing of the D&H Canal, Samuel Coykendall purchased the waterway for $10,000. It's ironic that the fortune built by hauling D&H coal on Cornell steamboats in the end bought the D&H Canal itself. Coykendall also bought the canal company's substantial holdings in Rondout for an additional $150,000. He kept the canal open from Eddyville to Ellenville through 1901 and kept the Rosendale section open until 1913 to carry cement from his Rosendale Consolidated Cement Company. In the end, Coykendall sold off the waterway to the Delaware Valley & Kingston and the Ontario & Western railroads.

To learn more about the story of the Hudson River steamboats, Thomas Cornell and the Cornell Steamboat Company by Stuart Murray is indispensable. Rondout, A Hudson River Port by Bob Steuding is also valuable for its description of the city at the center of the Hudson River steamboat industry. The Hudson River Maritime Museum in Rondout is a very important resource, too, and should not be missed.

Copyright 2006 by Stephen Skye