Everything travel led by boat because there were no roads or only poor roads for many many years. From the mid 19th century the railroad became the other main means of transporting goods in the Hudson Valley until the advent of the superhighway system in the mid 20th century.

What types of goods were carried on the Hudson River and how were they carried? What continued to go by water after the railroad came on the scene and then the superhighways?

The food, fuels, raw materials for building and manufactured goods produced in the Hudson Valley were of major importance to the growth of the metropolis, New York City, at the mouth of the river for hundreds of years. From apples and grapes to coal to tobacco and rawhides, so varied were the cargoes which traveled the river for centuries on many types of boats and by rail.