Editor's Note: The following text is a verbatim transcription of an article written by George W. Murdock, for the Kingston (NY) Daily Freeman newspaper in the 1930s. Murdock, a veteran marine engineer, wrote a regular column. Articles transcribed by HRMM volunteer Adam Kaplan. ​

ast of a fleet of five steamboats known as the “Sylvan Fleet,” the steamboat “Sylvan Dell” was a familiar sight in and about New York harbor for many years; and she eventually became known as the “Queen of the One-pipe Steamboats.”
           
The wooden hull of the “Sylvan Dell” was built by Lawrence & Foulkes at Greenpoint, New York, in 1872. Her keel was 178 feet in length, with an overall length of 185 feet. The breadth of beam of the “Sylvan Dell” was listed at 27 feet; over the guards 46 1/2 feet; depth of hold was eight feet nine inches. Her gross tonnage was 440 and net tonnage was 370. Fletcher, Harrison & Company of New York built the vertical beam engine which had a cylinder diameter of 51 inches with an eight foot stroke.
           
The steamboat “Sylvan Dell” was built for the Harlem and New York Navigation Company- the last of a fleet of five vessels known under the names of “Sylvan Shore,” built in 1856, “Sylvan Grove,” built in 1858, “Sylvan Stream,” built in 1863, “Sylvan Glen,” built in 1869, and the “Sylvan Dell,” built in 1872.
           
Because of her beautiful lines and ability to make speedy trips, the “Sylvan Dell” soon became known as the “Queen of the One-pipe Steamboats” in New York harbor. On October 18, 1872, she made the trip from New York to Albany, without any passengers or stops, in seven hours and 43 minutes, reaching a speed of approximately 20 miles per hour.
           
The “Sylvan Dell” was used on the East river for several years, carrying commuters between Harlem and New York on week-days, and running in the excursion business on Sundays to Newburgh, Glen Island, and the excursion groves along Long Island Sound. In 1879 the elevated railroad was completed in New York city from the Bowery to Harlem, and eventually the commuters who had used the steamboats, transferred to the elevated lines, thus making the steamboats no longer useful. In 1882 the Sylvan fleet ceased operations on the East river. The “Sylvan Shore” was broken up in 1877. The “Sylvan Grove” was placed in service to Rockaway, Bay Ridge, and points on the lower reaches of the Hudson river until sold and taken to Cape Fear River, North Carolina, where she was in service between Wilmington and Carolina Beach under the banner of the New Hanover Transit Company until January 19, 1891, when she was destroyed by fire at Wilmington docks. The “Sylvan Stream” was placed in the excursion business on the Hudson river and Long Island Sound until 1885, when she was sold for service on the St. Lawrence river between Claton and Alexandria Bay in connection with the New York Central Railroad Company. The “Sylvan Stream” was renamed the “Empire State” by the railroad, and was in service until destroyed by fire on June 25, 1903. The fourth vessel of the Sylvan fleet, the “Sylvan Glen,” was in service to Bay Ridge and excursions on the Hudson river,

Then went to Jacksonville, Florida, running on the St. John’s river in winter and traveling north to the Savannah river during the summer months. In 1886 the “Sylvan Glen” was purchased by the Delaware River Rapid Transit Company, who placed her in service between Philadelphia and Gloucester, using her on this route until she was worn out.
             
The “Sylvan Dell,” last of the Sylvan fleet, was used for a time on excursions to Newburgh, Glen Island, and Bay Ridge. In 1886 the Delaware River Rapid Transit Company purchased the “Sylvan Dell” to run in line with her sister ship, “Sylvan Glen,” between Philadelphia and Gloucester. The “Sylvan Dell” was destroyed by fire on July 16, 1906, at Salem Creek, New Jersey- ending a career of 34 years and bringing to a close the terms of service of the Sylvan fleet.        

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New-York Commercial Advertiser, October 15, 1833
Roster of Boats and Captains for the N. YORK, ALBANY AND TROY STEAM-BOAT LINE. ARRANGEMENT FOR OCTOBER.
Fare, $3, meals extra.
MORNING LINE, 7 O'CLOCK.
DAILY (Sundays excepted) FROM THE FOOT OF BARCLAY ST.
The CHAMPLAIN, Captain A. Gorham.
The ALBANY, Captain J. G. Jenkins
The ERIE, Captain Jas. Benson
The NOVELTY, Captain T. Wiswall

NIGHT LINE, 5 O'CLOCK.
(Daily from the foot of Courtlandt street.)
The OHIO, Capt. M. Bartholomew.
The DE WITT CLINTON, George E. Seymour.
The CONSTELLATION, R. G. Cruttenden.
The CONSTITUTION, Capt. A. Hoyt.
For Berths, or passage, apply on board, or at the Offices, for at Barclay and Courtlandt streets.
N. B. All Freight must be sent on board one hour previous to starting.
All Baggage at the owner's risk.

Rockland County Messenger (Haverstraw, N. Y.), May 18, 1865,
DAY LINE TO ALBANY. — The boats of this line will commence their trips to and from Albany on Monday, May 22. — the "Daniel Drew" leaving New York, from Desbrosses street, at 7 a. m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and the "C. Vibbard" on alternate days.

Rockland County Journal (Nyack, N. Y.), May 26, 1900
The Day Line of Steamboats. The steamboat Albany, of the Hudson River Day Line, will make her first up trip on May 28, opening the Day Line season, and will be followed next day by the steamer New York, so that everything will be in readiness for the holiday pleasure seekers on Memorial Day. The Albany has been so greatly improved during the Winter that old friends, once on board, will hardly know her. The forward saloon cabin has been extended 30 feet, plate-glass has taken the place of crown in the windows, the carpets, furnishings and upholstery have been renewed, and the vessel has been redecorated throughout. She will be found more of a floating palace than ever.

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Editor's Note: This account is from the November 1, 1859 issue of the  "Buffalo (NY) Weekly Express". Thank you to Contributing Scholar Carl Mayer for finding, cataloging and transcribing  the article. The language, spelling and grammar of the article reflects the time period when it was written.​

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Cement Manufacture, Leading Industry in Southern Ulster by Will Plank. Perspective, Southern Ulster Pioneer, August 14, 1969 part 2 of 2.
The New York and Rosendale Cement Company, one of the later firms engaged in the industry, had its plants erected in 1873 in the north part of Rosendale Village. Its quarries were reached by tunneling into the rocky spur which supports the northern end of the picturesque steel trestle of the Wallkill Valley Railroad. The plant had every facility for producing cement at its steam mills and six kilns at minimum expense, and was able to produce 600 barrels of the finished product with but one hundred men. The cement produced here was of superior grade, as proved in many tests before it was chosen for construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.

After the D & H Canal started providing plenty of anthracite at a low price coal supplanted wood for burning cement rock and larger kilns were built capable of producing 550 to 600 barrels. Government contracts were obtained for the superior type "light cement" and the plant was greatly enlarged and improved at heavy cost. Unfortunately, a national panic followed and the firm of Lawrence and Company went out of business. Nothing daunted this pioneer who had faith in the future of the cement business. He secured new capital, bought more land, a grist mill and a fulling mill nearby and had four medium sized "draw-kilns" built. A railroad track for horse-drawn cars was built high over the main road and canal to carry the stone to the grist mill which had been converted into a cement mill and by 1856, he was back in business on a larger scale. Lawrence became famous as the director of two companies that followed until financial difficulties resulted in the organization of the Lawrenceville Cement Company in 1862. At the outset the plant produced 4000 to 5000 barrels of cement each season, but as the demand increased, the company built three more kilns, changed from waterpower to a 225 h.p. steam engine and made other improvements which gave it a capacity of 700 barrels a day. The Lawrenceville plant was a hive of industry for many years but now exists only in memory. (1969).

Another and larger enterprise was the Newark and Rosendale Lime and Cement Company, which in 1847 bought the three Hugh White cement mills at Greenkill, Whiteport and Hickory Bush, together with cooper shops for making barrels, cement quarries, kilns, and "tenement houses". Several tracts of land bearing cement-rock deposits were also acquired, together with wharves and storehouses on Rondout Creek near Eddyville in order to handle their product which at first was finished and sold in Newark, New Jersey. When fire destroyed its plants in Jersey, the company concentrated its business at Whiteport in 1852 and introduced steam engines as well as waterpower to grind cement. Two years before the company joined the Lawrenceville Cement Company, which had nearby quarries, in building a plank road to tidewater 3 ½ miles away on Rondout Creek. This project which cost $14,000 made a great saving to both companies over the previous cost of transportation on existing country roads.

As the business grew a horse railroad was established in 1859 on or alongside the plank road. With its sidings, spurs and branches, this railroad covered ten miles and resulted in a 60% transportation saving over the former method. The Newark company had 19 perpetual kilns for roasting and calcining cement rock. Each had a capacity of 70 barrels per day. Twelve pairs of millstones driven by two steam engines and a waterwheel had a capacity for grinding a thousand barrels of cement a day. The company made its own barrels at its cooperage, using staves shipped from forests in Maine and hoops and heads produced locally. The cooper was geared to turn out 1000 barrels daily.

The firm had hard sledding at first, for it was necessary to replace so many of the buildings originally purchased and to add twenty more "tenements" housing four families each, for use of additional employees. Many other improvements were made so that when business began booming in 1862 the plants had increased their production from 400 to 1000 barrels of cement a day, and they employed 275 men and boys. Their product was of a superior grade and was used in the construction of the Croton Aqueduct, Brooklyn Water Works, Cochicuate and Sudbury River conduits for supplying Boston's water supply, the Georgetown aqueduct for supplying Washington, D.C., and various federal projects such as fortifications, seawalls, lighthouse foundations and other projects.

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