Category: Port Ewen

Rondout Harbor

5/5/2020

Hudson River Maritime Museum Collection

Rondout Harbor, 1903. Hudson River Maritime Museum Collection

Rondout Creek is a deep water tributary of the Hudson River. As the bird's eye and water level views above show, boats of many varieties have taken advantage of the deep water port for centuries. As the terminus for the Delaware & Hudson Canal (1828 -1898) Rondout Harbor saw lots of activity as canal boats came off the 108 mile long canal (Honesdale to Rondout) with loads of coal.

Rondout Harbor was also the home of the Cornell Steamboat Company founded in 1847 by Thomas Cornell. The Cornell fleet grew to 62 tugboats transporting coal and other goods to the New York City markets. Hudson River steamboats, including the Mary Powell, and Hudson River Day Line carried passengers up and down the Hudson River. Smaller steamers provided transport to communities along Rondout Creek. More information about tugboats and steamers can be found here.

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Fishing Season!

4/28/2020

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Fishing camp with nets drying, carts & track to move fish to & from boats, & many fishermen, probably at Port Ewen, NY.Circa 1900. Hudson River Maritime Museum Collection

Huge sturgeon at fishing camp at Port Ewen, N.Y. with fishermen and families. Robert Clark collection, Hudson River Maritime Museum

These images show examples of fishing camps along the Hudson River. Sturgeon and shad were both prized for their caviar. Sturgeon is a prehistoric fish that can grow up to 15 feet and weigh up to 800 pounds. In the 18th and 19th centuries, sturgeon meat was so plentiful it was nicknamed "Albany Beef". A 40 year sturgeon fishing moratorium was declared in 1998 in an effort to restore the sturgeon population.

Shad, a type of herring, live most of their lives in the Atlantic Ocean, returning in the spring to spawn in the freshwater rivers of their birth. A very bony fish with flavorful meat, filleting shad is an art. Shad weigh between 3 and 8 pounds. Female shad are valued for their eggs to make caviar. Hudson River commercial fishing came to a halt in the 1970s. More on that here. Visit the Hudson River Commercial Fishing Oral Histories at New York Heritage to learn more.

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