CHAMPLAIN II Shipwreck | |
The Champlain II was built as the Oakes Ames, depicted here in a c. 1868 painting by James Bard | |
Location | Address Restricted, Westport, New York |
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Coordinates | 44°12′21″N73°22′39″W / 44.20583°N 73.37750°W Coordinates: 44°12′21″N73°22′39″W / 44.20583°N 73.37750°W |
Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
Built | 1868 |
Architect | Proctor, Napoleon Bonaparte; Spear, Orson Saxton |
Architectural style | Sidewheel Passenger Steamer |
NRHP reference No. | 97000980 [1] |
Added to NRHP | September 15, 1997 |
The steamboat Oakes Ames was built in 1868 by the Napoleon B Proctor Shipyard in Burlington, Vermont for the Rutland Railroad. The 244-foot paddle wheeler was designed to ferry railroad cars from Burlington across Lake Champlain to Plattsburgh, New York. She was named after one of the railroad's directors' Oakes Ames. [2]
She successfully trialed on 19 August 1868 and her maiden excursion ran the next day to Willsboro Bay, Plattsburg. Mr. Ames went onward to Montreal for a review of the railroad's assets. [3]
In 1874, the ship was renamed and repurposed for passenger service as the Champlain II. [4] The following year, on July 16, 1875, the ship was wrecked when it ran aground after drifting off course while being guided by a pilot under the influence of morphine. [5] A salvage operation shortly afterwards removed much of the superstructure, leaving about a third of the wreck in place. [6]
The site is now an archaeological site located in Lake Champlain near Westport in Essex County, New York. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. [1]
Lake Champlain is a natural freshwater lake in North America mainly within the borders of the United States but also across the Canada–U.S. border into the Canadian province of Quebec.
Burlington is the most-populous city in Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is 45 miles (72 km) south of the Canada–United States border and 94 miles (151 km) south of Montreal. The population was 42,417 as of the 2010 census. It ranks as the least-populous city to also be the most-populous city in its state.
Colchester is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The population was 17,067 as of the 2010 census. It is the fourth-most populous municipality and second-most populous town in the state of Vermont. Colchester is a suburb of Burlington–Vermont's most populous municipality. The town is directly to Burlington's north on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, to the west of the Green Mountains. The Vermont National Guard is based in the town, and it is also home to Saint Michael's College and the Vermont campuses of the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Southern New Hampshire University.
Shelburne is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Located along the shores of Lake Champlain, Shelburne is a suburb of Burlington, the largest city in the state of Vermont. Shelburne's town center lies approximately 7 miles (11 km) south of Burlington's city center. The population of Shelburne was 7,775 in 2018 according to the US census bureau
The city of Rutland is the seat of Rutland County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 16,495. It is located approximately 65 miles (105 km) north of the Massachusetts state line and 20 miles (32 km) east of the New York state line. Rutland is the third largest city in the state of Vermont after Burlington and South Burlington. It is surrounded by the town of Rutland, which is a separate municipality. The downtown area of the city is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Rutland Railroad was a railroad in the northeastern United States, located primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York at both its northernmost and southernmost ends. After its closure in 1963 parts of the railroad were taken over by the State of Vermont and are now operated by the Vermont Railway.
The Ethan Allen Express is a 241-mile (388 km) higher-speed passenger train service operated by Amtrak between New York City and Rutland, Vermont via Albany, New York. The scheduled total trip time is 5.5 hours. Operations are subsidized by the states of Vermont and New York, and the train is popular among vacationers travelling to the ski resort area of Killington, Vermont. The Ethan Allen Express is named for the American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen. Between Penn Station and Schenectady, it operates along the Empire Corridor, a federally-designated high-speed rail corridor.
The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec.
The Union Station building is located at 1 Main Street in Burlington, Vermont. The building, last used as a railroad station in 1953, is owned by Main Street Landing Company, and houses offices and art studios.
The steamboat Ticonderoga is one of two remaining side-paddle-wheel passenger steamers with a vertical beam engine of the type that provided freight and passenger service on America's bays, lakes and rivers from the early 19th to the mid-20th centuries. Commissioned by the Champlain Transportation Company, Ticonderoga was built in 1906 at the Shelburne Shipyard in Shelburne, Vermont on Lake Champlain.
Bellows Falls station is an Amtrak intercity rail station located in the Bellows Falls village of Rockingham, Vermont, United States. The station is served by the single daily round trip of the Washington, D.C.–St. Albans Vermonter. It has a single side platform adjacent to the single track of the New England Central Railroad mainline.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Burlington, Vermont, USA
The Island Line Trail, also known as the Colchester Causeway, is a 14-mile (23 km) rail trail located in northwest Vermont. It comprises the Burlington Bike Path (Burlington), Colchester Park (Colchester) and the Allen Point Access Area. The trail follows the route of the Island Line railroad, built by the Rutland Railroad in 1901. The history of the Rutland Railroad is covered in Robert C. Jones "Railroads of Vermont, Volume 2" (ISBN 9781881535027), and in James Shaughnessy's "The Rutland Railroad", Howell North Books 1964.
The Follett House is a historic house at 63 College Street in Burlington, Vermont. Built in 1840 for a prominent local businessman, it is the last surviving grand 19th-century lakeside mansion in the city, and one of the state's finest examples of Greek Revival architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It has seen commercial and institutional uses since 1885.
The General Butler was a schooner-rigged sailing canal boat that plied the waters of Lake Champlain and the Champlain Canal in the United States states of Vermont and New York. Built in 1862 and named for American Civil War General Benjamin Franklin Butler, she sank after striking the Burlington Breakwater in 1876, while carrying a load of marble. Her virtually intact wreck, discovered in 1980, is a Vermont State Historic Site and a popular dive site; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
The Rutland Railroad Pumping Station is a historic water pumping facility at 43 Lake Street in the town of Alburgh, Vermont. Built in 1903, it is a rare example in Vermont of an early railroad-related water pumping facility. In use until the 1940s, it provided water needed for steam engines at rail facilities elsewhere in Alburgh. It is now owned by the town, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
The O.J. Walker was a cargo schooner that plied the waters of Lake Champlain between New York and Vermont. Built in 1862 in Burlington, Vermont, she hauled freight until sinking off the Burlington coast in a storm in 1895, while carrying a load of brick and tile. The shipwreck, located west of the Burlington Breakwater, is a Vermont State Historic Site, and is accessible to registered divers. It is one of the best-preserved examples of the 1862 class of sailing canal schooners, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
The Phoenix was a sidewheel paddle steamer operating on Lake Champlain between the United States states of New York and Vermont and the British province of Lower Canada. Built in 1815, she grounded, burned and sank in 1819 off the shore of Colchester, Vermont. Her surviving wreckage is the oldest known example of a sidewheel steamer anywhere in the world. The wreck site is a Vermont State Historic Site, which may be visited by registered and qualified divers. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
SS Selah Chamberlain was a wooden hulled Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Michigan in 1886, 6 miles (10 km) off the coast of Sheboygan, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States after being rammed by the steamer John Pridgeon Jr. with the loss of five lives. On January 7, 2019, the wreck of Selah Chamberlain was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was given the reference number 100003288. She was the first shipwreck listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
Daniel Chipman Linsley was an engineer, businessman, author, and political figure from Vermont. He was most notable for his railroad work which included serving as chief engineer of the Central Vermont Railway and assistant chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Linsley was also active in politics and government in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont and briefly served as Burlington's mayor in 1870.
Hon. Oakes Ames, of North Eaton, Mass. Mr. Ames' high position among the enterprising and successful manufacturers and railroad capitalists of the Bay State, has long been recognized. A member for two years of the State Executive Council, and a Member of Congress since 1862, he has proved his eminent fitness for public as well as private trusts. One of the original projectors of the Union Pacific Railroad, he showed his confidence in the route by becoming one of its largest stockholders. As one of the firmest friends and strongest supporters of the plan for the extension of the Rutland R, R. line, they have honored themselves in naming their new boat after him.
Cars were run on to the Ames yesterday with perfect success, and a train of freight and passenger cars will be taken over to-day.
Examination of the wreck of the 'Champlain' shows that she had been run out of her course at least thirty yards. She lay at an angle with the shore of forty-five degrees, with over half her length on land, while her stern was in deep water. The vessel glided up a Hit rock, causing the hull to break in two just forward of the engines, amidship. Within five minutes from the time that she struck, the stern and promenade decks wero completely submerged in water, while the boat's bow dropped over the rock and on the shore.
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