Hudson's Journey and Small Steamboats of the Hudson Valley

Henry Hudson's historic journey of discovery in 1609 opened up the Hudson River for trade and settlement by the Dutch. Visitors and students can get a feel for this important event by stepping into our recreated aft cabin of the d'Halve Maen. Models, charts, murals and a timeline help recreate the experience of crossing the Atlantic and meeting up with the Hudson Valley's true discoverers.

Racing the Wind: Two Centuries of Ice Yachting on the Hudson

For almost two hundred years, boats have been sailing the frozen Hudson River for sport and pleasure. Many of the wealthy Hudson River families, including the Roosevelts, Rogers, and Grinnells, sailed and raced large, elegant and very fast wooden ice yachts. The competition was keen, yet friendly.

The Hudson River Maritime Museum will feature an exhibit on Hudson River ice yachts and boats as its lead exhibit for 2007. On display will be the ice boat Knickerbocker and the large ice yacht Icicle which won the Hudson River Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant several times in the late 19th century when it belonged to Col. John Roosevelt of Hyde Park.

Ship and Boat Building on the Hudson River

The great importance of the Hudson River as a highway into the interior of the state and beyond required the building of many types of boats and ships from the days of dugout canoes to ocean-going cargo ships, military vessels, and thousands of barges and
scows. As settlements grew into villages, towns, and busy ports local shipping needs created many boat and shipyards over the course of several hundred years.

Our 2006 exhibit provides a look at this industry which employed thousands of workers over hundreds of years, and supplied the booming shipping and passenger trade on the Hudson. We are particularly featuring a rare look at the busy boat building of some of the smaller up river towns, like New Baltimore and Athens.

A Tale of Two Ports: Newburgh and Kingston on the Hudson
Important Hudson River ports in the days of steam and sail

Every town along the river, from the early colonial days until well into the 19th century, had some trade on the Hudson River, but some ports were more important than others. Kingston and Newburgh were both shipping powerhouses, and became prosperous towns as a result. Both towns had local shipping barons who prospered more than everyone else at the time because of their near total control over the public means of transportation. This exhibit looks at that colorful era, as well as the Central Hudson Line, which involved Kingston, Newburgh and Poughkeepsie boats starting in 1900.

Rondout historic district of Kingston, NY

Rondout: Hudson River Port 1850-1950,
The Hudson River Maritime Museum´s 1998 Exhibit

Donald C. Ringwald's River — One Man's Passion for the Hudson

Donald C. Ringwald was born and brought up along the river in Kingston, NY, a once great steamboat center. He had several close relatives who were steamboatmen on the Hudson, which created within him an intense interest in the history of steam navigation from his earliest days.. Ringwald wrote three books and countless articles about Hudson River steamboating and was editor-in-chief of Steamboat Bill, the journal of the Steamship Historical Society of America, Inc. He was considered a prime authority in this field, and assembled an extensive collection of Hudson River steamboat material from years of personal experience and wide acquaintance with Hudson River history.

Donald C. Ringwald died on June 19, 1987, and the steamboat research material he collected is now in the possession of the Hudson River Maritime Museum. In celebration of the acquisition of the Donald C. Ringwald Collection, the Hudson River Maritime Museum's 2004 exhibit will be, "Ringwald's River: One Man's Passion for the Hudson River. Steamboats from the Donald Ringwald Collection." The exihibit will include period lithographs, paintings, photographs, artifacts, and furniture from Hudson River steamboats from the collection of this renowned author and collector. The exhibit will open to the public on May 15 and be on view daily 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through October of 2004.

Museum Acquires Donald C. Ringwald Collection

Ronald C. Ringwald — A Short Biography

Ringwald Steamboat Books

The Hudson River Day Line

Of the many steamboat lines that ran on the Hudson River, the Hudson River Day Line was the most prominent and dependable. Their steamboats were known for elegance and speed, and provided the most enjoyable way to travel the Hudson River.  No one could claim to have seen America without seeing the Hudson River, and the only way to properly see the Hudson River was from the deck of a Day Liner steamboat.

Millions of people fondly remembered the beautiful scenery along the banks, and chose this slower method of transport over the cinders and noise of the much faster trains. The Day Line offered art displays, chamber music, cool decks to stretch one's legs and a de luxe cuisine to be leisurely enjoyed. The company stressed passengers only and achieved a cachet of elegance the freight carriers could not boast.

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 between Albany and New York ceased. The Day Line reached its zenith of operations in the 20s, and at that time had the largest and finest fleet of steamers to be found on any river. The hard times of the 30s began the decline of the line as a through carrier to Albany, despite a flurry of activity during World War II. 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. Today all of the old Day Line fleet is gone.

In conjunction with Kingston's 350th anniversary, the Hudson River Maritime Museum is presenting an exhibit covering major topics in the maritime history of the Hudson River. The age of sail, including the sloop and the eras of the Dutch and English, as well as the Revolutionary War, begins the exhibit. The glamorous reign of the Hudson River steamboat in the 19th and early 20th centuries is highlighted with large lithographs of some of the famous boats like the New York of the Hudson River Day Line, the James W. Baldwin, and the famous Mary Powell, as well as boat models. Small passenger steamers known as "yachts" in their heyday in the late 19th century are shown for the first time at the Maritime Museum. These attractive boats operated between small and intermediate towns on the Hudson and along the tributaries of the Hudson like the Rondout and Catskill Creeks.

Hudson River ferries, which crossed the river at many points along the Hudson for several centuries, are featured along with the bridges which eventually replaced them. A look at the 20th century includes dramatic photographs of tankers going through the Hudson Highlands and a display of photos of the Reserve Fleet of Liberty and Victory ships mothballed after World War II on the Hudson at Jones Point taken by Ted Stone. We also take a look at other commemorative celebrations like the Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909 and Kingston's 250th anniversary celebration.

Early in the twentieth century, the mighty Cornell Steamboat Company was at its peak and dominated Hudson River towing. Within two decades, however, the tides of change natural and industrial and social overwhelmed Cornell just when bitter conflict within the family that had built the company caused it to founder. Although its executives and trustees worked gallantly to rescue Cornell, and with considerable success, by 1964, Cornell as an operating company was gone forever. Thomas Cornell founded the largest tugboat company in the US, the Rondout Savings Bank and a commercial bank. He owned railroads, a resort hotel, an amusement park, and served in Congress.

The most famous sailing vessel to ply the waters of the magnificent Hudson River was undoubtedly the Hudson River sloop of the 19 century. This incredible hybrid craft evolved from its early European ancestors, built by the Dutch and the English, into a ship specifically suited to the demands and quirks of the namesake waterway. Although sloops were the most common and well known of the sailing ships on the river they were far from being the only ones.

The Hudson River was the main artery of transportation for goods and people in the Hudson Valley from the earliest days of European settlement into the early 20th century. Everything travel led by boat because there were no roads or only poor roads for 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.

Rondout is the port of Kingston. It has been a section of the city of Kingston since 1872, but was once a thriving independent town with its own port, industries, schools, and post office. It sought status as an independent city, but was instead joined to the village of Kingston, three miles away inland, and lost its independence as it became just a part of the larger community. However, Rondout did not lose its identity or its colorful history.

Rowboats were used as personal transportation for many years on the Hudson before competitive rowing began. For example, rowboats were used as ferries even into the early years of the 20th century at certain points along the Hudson and its tributaries. However, racing or competitive rowing on the Hudson began after the establishment of rowing clubs in various towns like Newburgh and Poughkeepsie in the 1830's. The oarsmen were so skilled that the races attracted large crowds and extensive wagering. Cash prizes were awarded to the winners

The Museum's 1995 exhibit celebrates the height of steamboat travel on the Hudson River, is perhaps the largest exhibit mounted by the Museum to-date. The exhibit will focus on the years when the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains were world-renowned tourist destinations. By the early 1900's, thousands of people had made the trip from the steamer piers in New York City to river port towns and then boarded the railroads, destined for one of the large Catskill Mountain hotels. This journey will be recreated for the visitor through the use of period clothing, ephemera, audio and video tape, photographs and models.