Steamship MASSACHUSETTS Passing New York’s Castle Clinton and the Battery on the way to Providence, RI, c. 1885

oil on canvas, 24” x 36”

$25,000

Between 1847-1892, before the railroads directly linking New York and Boston were completed (the hangup was the logistical challenge of crossing the rivers along the coastal route), the preferred way to travel between these cities was by a combination of steamship and train. Passengers would board a Fall River Line (later the Providence/Stonington Line), onto a steamship at Pier 29 at the foot of Warren Street in Manhattan in the late afternoon, have a leisurely dinner, then retire for the evening while the steamers drove up the East River, through the treacherous Hell’s Gate, up Long Island Sound, through Block Island Sound, and up Narragansett Bay throughout the night, arriving at Providence, RI, the next day, in time for passengers to step onto a train for the final leg to Boston or even the White Mountains.

The gigantic Steamship MASSACHUSETTS was perhaps the most notable steamer of this era. Built in 1877 by Henry Steers, she was over a football field long at 346 feet in length, with a 43’ 9” beam and 16’ 10” draft, and traveled at a speed of 16 ½ miles per hour. Her design was distinguished by her unusual external hog truss visible above the decks which kept the ends of the wooden hull from sagging over time.

She could carry up to 1,500 passengers at a time, and remained in active service until 1904, when she was beached in Apple Island, RI to be broken up. Other Fall River Steamers continued to operate until 1937. In addition to safely moving tens of thousands of passengers over the years, she, under the command of Captain George Rowhand, rescued 200 people from the Steamer TREMONT which had collided with the Yacht WILD DUCK off Saybrook Point on July 18, 1901.

In this incredibly vivid painting, Davis gives us a completely detailed view of Steamship MASSACHUSETTS just beginning her journey in New York Bay.