The Hiawatha Paddleboat that we can ride today is modeled after, and named for, a steamer that traveled this section of the Susquehanna more than 100 years earlier.
The Hiawatha, followed by the Hiawatha II, traveled from a dock near the Market Street Bridge, three and a half miles across the river to the Sylvan Dell Park, stopping at Goose Island beach along the way.
Read more about Sylvan Dell Park, and Goose Island Beach, Here:
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| July 30 1901 |
At 80 feet in length, with two decks and an 18ft beam, the Hiawatha would travel three and a half miles from a dock in Williamsport, across the river to the Sylvan Dell Park. The trip would take 20-25 minutes, with the return trip, upstream, taking ten minutes longer.
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| March 18, 1910 Captain John English is noted as the Steamers Captain. |
As many as 200 passengers could ride the steamer at one time. The fare was ten cents for adults, but children could ride for free.
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| June 1906 |
There were two paddlewheelers. Records show Hiawatha 1 was painted red, and used until it became dilapidated and was dismantled. The Hiawatha II, which was white, was docked most of the time at the east side of the bridge on the Williamsport side of the river.
"I saw them build that boat along the bank on the west side" said Mr Harer, in a 1979 interview for the Williamsport Grit. That must have been 75 or 80 years ago, at least. The boat went down as I recall, in one of the floods of the early 1900s."
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| The Hiawatha can be seen in the background here, in a photo from the 1889 flood. The steamer had a dock near the bridge here. |
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| 1900 |
In 1900, Mrs Shearer ran a considerable distance in order to catch the boat, overexerting herself. "Scarcely had she boarded the boat when she collapsed." Corsets were a relatively new fashion in 1900, although the article does not mention whether or not Mrs Shearer was wearing one.
"The park was one of the great picnic areas of the time. Our church, the First United Evangelical, always had it's own outing there. We each took our own basket lunch. There as a big dance floor with all kinds of entertainment. Most everybody took the old paddlewheel steamboat on its regular run between the Market Street Bridge and the park."
"At first they lit the boats with oil lamps" recalled Mr Harer. "Electricity was just coming in. When they installed electric lights on the boat, it looked beautiful streaming down the river to the dance pavilion. For smaller groups of 30 to 40 people, they had a gasoline launch to take people to the park. Gasoline engines were just coming in then also."
"Its season opened about memorial day, and closed with Dickinson Seminary's traditional Chestnut party in October, the boat thereafter being taken to its winter haven back of Goose Island. In the fall of 1914, the trip to this haven was too long delayed. The craft was caught in the winter ice at it's Market Street mooring. The spring break-up spelled its doom. The faithful craft, after stout resistance, surrendered to the heaving crushing ice and was carried away on the flood. In this picture, showing a gay picnic crowd aboard the steamer at the Sylvan Dell dock, there is also shown a gasoline launch which afforded speedier supplementary service, but never won an equal place in the hearts of young or old." - Journal Of The Lycoming County Historical Society, Spring 1981
The Abe Lincoln was another steamboat that traveled this section of the river. This steamer made the trip from Williamsport to the popular Nippono Amusement Park in Jersey Shore. The Nippono was a typical Trolley Park of the time, with a dancing pavilion, movie theater, miniature railroad, roller skating, merry go round, and even private cottages. The Abe Lincoln would make the trip from Williamsport to Nippono in an hours time.
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A steam-driven stern-wheeler under the command of Captain Jack English, the original Hiawatha traveled 3 and a half miles from a dock in Williamsport, across the river to the Sylvan Dell Park.
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JERSEY SHORE, WILLIAMSPORT, PA - ANTQ NIPPONO AMUSEMENT PARK SOUVENIR BOOKLETIt is our pleasure to offer this interesting souvenir booklet from Nippono Park, which was located along the Susquehanna a few miles from Jersey Shore i n Limestone Township.In the late 19th Century -- probably when this brochure was produced -- the park was a very attractive, family-oriented park on the river bank, at the foot of a mountain, for picnic parties There was a dancing pavilion and roller skating, coal-fired and steam-powered merry-go-round, free moving pictures in a theater, a miniature railroad, hotel and bar, concession stand and private cottages. A good-sized steamboat named the Abe Lincoln ran between there and Williamsport hauling passengers, making the trip one-way in about an hour. Most all trains stopped at a nearby station, including a trolley. Even a post office was established there in 1892. The site could also be reached by horse and buggy. The park was a popular boating spot with docks reaching far out into the river for canoes and private craft. There was a sand beach for swimming and a bathhouse for changing. Fishing was another popular activity. Information in the book, and there's nearly as much text as there are photos, indicates the park dated back to Indian times. Col. George Sanderson's huge estate, Lochabar. was nearby. When this booklet was published the park was being operated by the Jersey Shore & Antes Fort Railroad., with trains of the P&E RR also stopping at the park.
July 1914
A few years ago, my wife did a Watercolor Picture of
ReplyDeletethe NEW Hiawatha: 'Up a Lazy River'
[https://artofkathleenbbonnell.com/#up_a_lazy_river ]
.