“Steamboats on the Hudson”

by Robert Jordy

Robert Fulton (1765 – 1815) was born in Lancaster County, Pa.  We find young Fulton in his teens as a jeweler’s apprentice & a painter of miniature portraits in Philadelphia.  Fulton’s friends admired his paintings and told him that all he needed to be one of the greatest artists of the age was to study in Europe.  So during the summer of 1787, he sailed for London.  By 1794, we find him abandoning art for engineering.  While designing canals, he published a paper, “Treatise on Canal Navigation.”  But Fulton’s mind was full of ideas – from mills for cutting marble to steamboats.  In the spring of 1797, we find him in France trying to convince Napoleon of the merits of submarine warfare. 

In 1801, Robert R. Livingston, American minister to France, and Robert Fulton were to meet accidentally in Paris.  Livingston explained to his compatriot that he would pay a large sum of money to anyone who could develop a practical steamboat.  While in France, Fulton worked again on a steamboat.  Pulling two other boats on the Seine River, Fulton’s boat moved at almost 3 miles per hour.

He was now invited back to England to discuss his plunging boat (submarine) with the government.  While in London, he ordered a 24-HP double-acting engine to be sent to America.  In Dec. 1806, Fulton arrived back in America, with all his energy going into building his steamboat.

Yes, it all started here on the Hudson River.  On Monday, August 17, 1807, Robert Fulton left New York City and pointed the bow of the “North River Steam Boat” toward Albany.  After a 32-hour trip and a layover of 20 hours at Clermont, (Livingston’s estate just north of Tivoli, New York), the 140’ boat landed at Albany.  The speed of the “North River Steam Boat” was approximately 4 miles per hour – just enough to gain Fulton and Livingston a twenty-year monopoly of steamboat operations on New York state waters.

On September 3, the little steamboat entered commercial service.  The fare was set at $3.00 to Newburgh, $4.00 to Poughkeepsie, $5.00 to Hudson and $7.00 to Albany.  The “North River Steam Boat,” built in New York City, was powered by an engine imported from the Watt Engine Works in England.  Fulton’s first successful boat paddled her way up and down the Hudson until she was retired in 1814.

Other Fulton steamboats would follow the “North River Steam Boat.”  The “Car of Neptune” in 1808 was followed by the “Paragon” (1811), the “Fire Fly” (1812) and the “Richmond” (over the winter of 1813 – 1814).  There was also the ferry route between Cortlandt St., New York City and Paulus Hook, New Jersey, with the ferries “Jersey” (1812) and the “York” (1813).  Most all of Fulton’s early steamboats were built at Charles Brown Yard in New York. 

On January 7, 1808, Robert Fulton married Harriet Livingston.  He was now an important citizen: his steamboat represented only one facet of his reputation.  The government was still interested in his torpedoes, and he was offered a canal-building job.

Robert Livingston died in 1813 leaving Fulton alone to fight for their monopoly.  Robert Fulton passed away February 23, 1815.  He had built 21 steamboats for use in and around the Hudson River, each larger and more refined than the one before.  In addition, he built the “Empress of Russia,” designed to gain a monopoly in that nation, and the first steam warship in the world, the “Demologos.” 

2009 will start the Hudson-Fulton year of activities – Henry Hudson’s Quadricentennial (1609 – 2009) and Robert Fulton’s Bicentennial (1807 – 2009).  Local communities will be sponsoring events up and down the river.  Take time and take a cruise on the beautiful Hudson River. 

Just think of the history – from Native Americans and Dutch settlers, English rule, the importance of the Hudson during the Revolutionary War, the development of towns and cities along its banks and, yes, the steam boats.  DON’T FORGET THE STEAMBOATS!!

About Robert Jordy (Bob)

Bob resides in the Town of Newburgh & has lived in the Hudson Valley all his life.  He was born in Poughkeepsie & lived in Highland as a child.

In early 1973, he formed the Hudson Valley Bottle Club.  In 1979, he formed the Half Moon Postcard Club, dedicated to deltiologists (postcard collectors). 

Bob collects all types of memorabilia of Hudson River steamboats & ferries & is a member of the Steamship Historical Society of America.  He also has an extensive collection of postcards & other collectibles of Newburgh, New Windsor & numerous other towns in Orange, Ulster & Dutchess Counties. 

Vist www.hrmm.org for more infornmtion about steamboats in the Hudson River Valley.

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