Back in the days when the Erie Canal and the Delaware and Hudson canals fed endless barge traffic into the Hudson River, Kingston, New York, was the busiest port on the Hudson River between New York City and Albany, so it seems a fitting place for a museum dedicated to the river’s maritime history.
Kingston owed its prominence as a port to its location, at a wide part of the river, with a sheltered waterfront on Rondout Creek, at the point where the Delaware and Hudson Canal from Pennsylvania joined the Hudson, adding to traffic coming downstate from the Erie Canal.
Mules were the main power for the canals, with young boys leading them
The D&H Canal brought anthracite coal from central Pennsylvania, and the Erie brought agricultural goods and more from upstate cities and from Midwest states along the Great Lakes.
Its status as a trans-shipment point helped it grow and also made it a major stop for the passenger steamboats that plied the river between New York and Albany well into the 20th century. All that and more is reflected in the Hudson River Maritime Museum, established in the 1980s in a former boat shop.
Eventually, railroads replaced the D&H and carried much of the Erie’s freight, and highways and trains took over the passenger traffic. By the end of World War I the era of the great Hudson River steamers, like the Mary Powell, was over, although the Hudson River Day Line ran to Albany until the 1950s, and still carried excursion traffic to Bear Mountain and West Point until 1971.
Note the name ‘Day Line;’ its ships made the New York-Albany run in the daytime. Most others were night lines that made the trip after working hours, allowing passengers to arrive at their destination in the morning after a luxurious excursion in a pleasant cabin. Or, tired and stiff after a night in less luxurious accommodations!
Pianos and luxury fittings for passengers in the ‘better’ classes
The museum tells the canal story and the steamer story, and the lives of those who worked on the river, and the ports. It also gives attention to the river’s role as a fishing ground, and the changes that have happened as the river has been brought back from industrial pollution.
Hudson River sloops were known for their speed and sleek design
In fact, the sloop Clearwater, founded by Pete Seeger as an emblem and campaign for the clean-up, spends the winter docked at the Museum’s deepwater dock, which also provides a home for historic reproduction ships such as the Half Moon, a copy of Henry Hudson’s original ship. There’s also free docking for canoes and kayaks, by the way.
The musuem itself is an artifact of the river’s decline as a transportation artery; the railroads and dock buildings along the waterfront ceased operating and fell into bad shape by the time local enthusiasts came up with the idea for the museum in 1980.
Before the great bridges, there were ferries at many points along the river. The one above is a New York Staten Island ferry; I rode the ferry it’s modeled on before it retired in the early 1960s.By 1983, it had opened in a former boat shop. It’s now the hub of a number of other attractions, including a wooden boat school, the 1898 steam tug Mathilda (seen at top), a small transit museum. It also puts on a number of events each year, including boat shows, crafts days and musical events.
Getting there is easy; Kingston is just off the New York Thruway on one shore of the Hudson, and U.S. 9 on the other. Once in town, head for the waterfront and you’ll find it! And save your ticket; it’s good for a discount at the Trolley Museum of New York, just across the road.
Above, a pair of steam tug models; below, life on the waterfront today.
