Steamboat William G. Payne

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. ​

Steamboat "Highlander". Hudson River Maritime Museum Collection.

The name “William G. Payne” used in conjunction with a Hudson river steamboat may not call to attention any particular steamboat, but the name “Highlander” or “Bear Mountain” will designate this particular vessel to followers of the Hudson river craft.
           
The steel hull of the vessel which originally bore the name of “William G. Payne” was built by Harlan and Hollingsworth Company at Wilmington, Delaware in 1902. This hull was 243 feet three inches, breadth of beam 36 feet nine inches, depth of hold 14 feet six inches. Her gross tonnage was listed at 1,310, with net tonnage of 854, and she was powered with an incline-compound type engine, build by Harlan and Hollingsworth, with a high pressure cylinder diameter of 72 inches, with a six foot stroke.
           
The “William G.Payne” was built for the Bridgeport Steamboat Company for service as a dayboat between Bridgeport and New York city. The appearance of the new vessel on the Sound created quite a stir because of her ability to make fast time, and it was claimed that her 19 miles per hour was the fastest time that any vessel operating on the same route could do.
           
In February, 1903, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad purchased the Bridgeport Steamboat Company, and the “William G. Payne” was renamed the “Bridgeport” and continued in service on her original route for several years.
           
After being laid up for a short time, the Bridgeport was purchased, (in 1913), by the McAllister Steamboat Company of New York, and was then placed in the excursion business on the Hudson river from New York to Bear Mountain.
           
During the summer of 1914 the name “Highlander” replaced “Bridgeport” on the vessel’s hull, and as the Highlander she piled the Bear Mountain route until the fall of 1923, when she was laid up for the winter with the rest of the McAllister fleet at the pier at West 156th street, North river.
           
The following spring work was begun on the renovation and repainting of the excursion fleet. On Saturday morning, August 26, 1924, it was discovered that the steamboat “Nassau” was ablaze. The fire spread to the “Highlander,” “Grand Republic” and several smaller vessels. The “Nassau” and “Grand Republic” were totally destroyed and sank, while the “Highlander” was completely burned with the exception of her steel hull. She was rebuilt at Kearny, New Jersey, in 1925, and when the vessel again appeared in service on the Bear Mountain route, she carried the name “Bear Mountain.”
           
​The fall of 1938 marked the end of service for the “Bear Mountain” on the excursion route between New York and Bear Mountain, and in the spring of 1939 she was sold to the concern which operated the excursion steamboat “Mandalay” which had been rammed and sunk in the Lower Bay just outside the Narrows on May 29, 1938. The “Bear Mountain” was purchased with the intentions of placing her in service on the route of the “Mandalay” between New York and Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey; but she actually appeared in service on the Coney Island route where she was running in 1940.

Author

George W. Murdock, (b. 1853-d. 1940) was a veteran marine engineer who served on the steamboats "Utica", "Sunnyside", "City of Troy", and "Mary Powell". He also helped dismantle engines in scrapped steamboats in the winter months and later in his career worked as an engineer at the brickyards in Port Ewen. In 1883 he moved to Brooklyn, NY and operated several private yachts. He ended his career working in power houses in the outer boroughs of New York City. His mother Catherine Murdock was the keeper of the Rondout Lighthouse for 50 years. ​

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