KATAHDIN (Lake Boat) | |
![]() Katahdin plies Moosehead Lake c. 1920 | |
Location | Moosehead Lake, Greenville, Maine |
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Coordinates | 45°28′9″N69°37′17″W / 45.46917°N 69.62139°W Coordinates: 45°28′9″N69°37′17″W / 45.46917°N 69.62139°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built by | Bath Iron Works |
Architectural style | Lake boat |
NRHP reference No. | 78003435 [1] |
Added to NRHP | September 13, 1978 |
The Katahdin is a historic steamboat berthed on Moosehead Lake in Greenville, Maine. Built in 1914 at the Bath Iron Works, it at first served the tourist trade on the lake before being converted to a towboat hauling lumber. It was fully restored in the 1990s by the nonprofit Moosehead Maritime Museum, and is again giving tours on the lake. One of the very few surviving early lake boats in Maine, and the oldest vessel afloat built at Bath, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. [1]
Katahdin is a bluff-bowed steamer, 102 feet (31 m) long, with a beam of 28 feet (8.5 m) and a hull depth of 9 feet (2.7 m). Its hull is steel, with two wooden decks. Its typical draft is 3 feet 9 inches (1.14 m). The original configuration included enclosed passenger spaces on two decks, with an open area at the stern on the lower deck, and surrounding the enclosed area on the upper deck. The pilot house is located at the front of the upper deck enclosure. The main passenger entryways are located on the lower deck on either side of the pilot house. [2]
Katahdin was built in 1914 at the Bath Iron Works for the Coburn Steamship Company, and is the oldest vessel afloat built at Bath. [3] It was shipped in sections to Greenville, where final assembly took place. The primary use when launched was to deliver tourists and supplies to the Mount Kineo Resort from Greenville Junction, but it also offered cruises on the lake. [2]
The Great Depression and the increased use of the automobile for leisure transportation led to a decline in demand, and it made the last tourist trip in 1938. In 1940 it was acquired by a paper company (later itself merged into the Scott Paper Company), and converted for use as a towboat hauling timber across the lake. This conversion included the removal of the promenade areas of the decks, and the replacement of the steam plant by a diesel engine. It continued in this use until 1976. [2]
Not long afterward, a local nonprofit, the Moosehead Marine Museum, was organized to preserve the boat. It was sufficiently restored to provide tours of the lake, and again began serving the tourist trade. After a major fundraising effort begun in 1993, it was fully restored, including a replating of the hull by the Bath Iron Works. The upper deck is now fiberglass, and the promenades have been restored. In 2012 the keel was replaced. [3]
Katahdin now offers cruises between June and October, traveling either 12 or 20 miles (19 or 32 km) up the lake, in cruises with durations of 3 and 4 1/2 hours. It is also available for hire for private events.
Greenville is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,646 at the 2010 census. The town is centered on the lower end of Moosehead Lake, the largest body of fresh water in the state. Greenville is the historic gateway to the north country and a center for outdoor recreation in the area. Greenville High School, with 89 students, was ranked as the third best high school in Maine and one of the top 1,000 in the US in 2010.
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The Katahdin Iron Works is a Maine state historic site located in the unorganized township of the same name. It is the site of an ironworks which operated from 1845 to 1890. In addition to the kilns of the ironworks, the community was served by a railroad and had a 100-room hotel. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.
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The William M. Shaw House is a historic house at 40 Norris Street in Greenville, Maine, which now houses the Greenville Inn. Built in 1895, it is a handsome and elaborate example of Queen Anne architecture in a rural small-town setting. The house was designed by Edwin E. Lewis of Gardiner, with alterations by Wilfred E. Mansur of Bangor. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 for its architecture, and for its association with William Shaw, a leading lumber businessman active in Greenville in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whose business interests also included ownership of the steamer Katahdin.
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