S.S. TICONDEROGA

vessels that served every seaboard and inland port in the United
States (except on the Mississippi River system) from the late 1830s
to World War II. Her motive power is a vertical beam engine, an
American marine adaptation of the Newcomen engine first used for
pumping water out of English coal mines. This type of propulsion
system led to a distinctly American development in marine
architecture: the engine rose several decks through an ellipse,
allowing commodious passenger accommodations and substantial
freight capacities. At the same time, great ease of handling and
navigation in shallow waters was made possible by the side
paddlewheels. In their heyday in the 19th century, side-wheelers
were ubiquitous. The paddlewheel era is one of the most exuberant
and colorful in American history.

The S.S. Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain in the 1950s.

The Ticonderoga’s engine was hand-built in Hoboken, New
Jersey, by Andrew Fletcher and Sons, the most famous of the
vertical engine builders. Her steel hull was designed and built by
T. S. Marvel on the Hudson River and shipped to Lake Champlain
through the Champlain Canal. Her joiner work was completed in 1905
at the Shelburne Harbor Shipyard of the Champlain Transportation
Company, the oldest steamboat company in the world when it ceased
operations in 1932. The company traced its origins to 1809 when the
Vermont I, licensed by Fulton and Livingston, became the first
steamboat in regular service on any lake in the world. The Ti was
launched in 1906

Powered by two boilers which consumed a ton of coal an hour, the
Ti was capable of speeds from 18 to 23 miles per hour. Paddlewheels
on either side of the boat were driven by the unencased engine
which rises through all three decks. Firemen in the boiler-room
shoveled coal to heat two enormous boilers containing thousands of
gallons of water. The steam pressure thus generated rose into the
steam chest from which it could be released by the engineer into
the 53-inch piston cylinder. The piston’s upward motion pushed
on the walking beam connected to the Pitman arm which in turn
rotated the shaft holding the two wheels. The wheels themselves are
of the ‘feather wheel’ type and were designed so that the
ten buckets on each wheel entered and left the water straight. Thus
engine power was not wasted lifting the tons of water
displaced.

The paddlewheel design was perfectly suited for inland water
ways, as it enabled very large boats to navigate in shallow water.
The Ticonderoga weighs 892 tons and yet drew only six feet of water
when standing still and ten feet when underway, enabling her to
travel nearly anywhere on Lake Champlain.

Designed for the luxury tourist lake trade, and used mainly for
excursions, the Ticonderoga also carried freight such as apples,
cars, and livestock and had roomy overnight passenger
accommodations. She once carried an elephant across Lake Champlain.
The Ti’s interior shows the elegance of the grand tradition of
American steamship building in the butternut and cherry paneling of
its dining room and stateroom hall, its gold stenciled ceilings and
its wide and lushly carpeted staircases.

The last vessel built by the Champlain Transportation Company,
the 220 foot Ticonderoga had served 43 years when, in 1950 she was
about to be scrapped. A public fund-raising campaign enabled her to
return to operation that year. Early in 1951 she was purchased by
the Shelburne Museum which, through a subsidiary, the Shelburne
Steamboat Company, kept her in operation through 1953, when trouble
with her aging coal-fired, Scotch-type boilers and lack of
qualified licensed personnel forced her retirement.

In 1954 the Museum decided that the best means for her
preservation was her removal to the Shelburne Museum. During the
winter of 1955 she was hauled two miles from the foot of Shelburne
Bay through swamps and across meadows and a railroad right of way
to the Museum grounds. The move demanded careful planning and
unique procedures. The Ti was floated into a specially dug basin
which was filled with water to enable the Ti to be floated over a
railroad carriage. The water was then let out of the basin, and the
Ti settled onto her carriage. Tracks were laid in front of the
boat, and two months later she arrived at her final destination
near the Colchester Lighthouse at the Shelburne Museum.

The journey of such a large vessel overland was without
precedent, and the Ticonderoga was featured around the world in
newspaper and magazine articles (including a feature story in Life)
and on radio and television. In 1964 she was declared a National
Historic Landmark. To move the Ti to the Museum and provide ongoing
maintenance has required great and sustained effort, not to mention
the commitment of a substantial portion of the Museum’s annual
operating budget.

In 1977 it was becoming apparent that if the vessel was to
survive at all, much less be accessible to future generations, more
than annual housekeeping and maintenance was required. Accordingly,
planning began, first to renew the most seriously deteriorated
parts of the boat, then to proceed with a complete restoration of
her exterior, interior and utilities. The Museum trustees
determined to restore her as closely as possible to her condition
when she was launched. This program began in 1978 when the National
Trust awarded a matching $10,500 grant for sandblasting and
painting the iron hull and paddle-wheels. The work was completed on
schedule and within the budget in September 1978.

In 1979 the Ti received a $117,500 matching grant from a special
fund for maritime preservation administered by the Department of
the Interior and the National Trust. The Ticonderoga award is the
largest preservation grant ever made in Vermont.

The Museum plans to raise $60,000 in each of the next two years
to match the federal money; $13,000 has been raised so far in 1980
from foundations, local businesses and individuals. Part of the
funds from a new season membership program will also go toward the
match. Other special fund raising efforts are underway. A group of
48 fifth graders from Springfield, Vermont, is organizing a public
service advertising campaign for the Ti as part of a school
project. This is by far the largest fundraising campaign in
Shelburne Museum history.

1. Coal bin
2. Steam chest
3. Cylinder
4. Walking beam
5. Connecting rod
6. Paddle shaft

The schedule of renovations for the Ti is staged according to
priority of work and the Vermont weather. The hurricane deck,
forecastle and quarterdecks are rotted in many places and will be
replaced. This work will make the vessel watertight and prevent
further damage. Ribs, exterior sheathing and guard rails will be
replaced and, at the same time, all exterior surfaces will be
painted. The 40-year-old sprinklers and fire hoses will be replaced
and all wiring will be examined and replaced where necessary.
Refurbishing of the interior is scheduled for the summer of 1981.
All interior surfaces will be painted; all chairs and sofas will be
reupholstered; all rugs will be replaced; broken windows in the
saloon will be replaced with reproduction etched and frosted glass;
and the linoleum floors will be replaced with reproduction rubber
tile. The Museum staff, under the direction of Robert Francis, will
undertake all repairs. The Benjamin Moore Paint Company will offer
technical assistance in the extensive painting work. The Museum has
also received a commitment from Dr. Waldo C. M. Johnston,
ex-director of Mystic Seaport, to help assemble and serve on a
Ticonderoga advisory committee of maritime experts.

Since she has berthed at the Shelburne Museum, more people have
boarded the Ti each summer than in any season she operated on Lake
Champlain. Her annual visitation averages well over 130,000 people
from every state in the Union and many foreign countries. Since her
boiler, dynamo, steering engine room, galley and foc’sle are
now available for inspection, along with the main and hurricane
decks and Stateroom Hall, she has become a unique educational
resource. In addition, her dining room serves as an auditorium and
a lecture hall, with frequent daily screenings of a film describing
the moving of the boat from the harbor. The Museum library holds
her plans and records for researchers as well as general
information on the history of the Champlain waterway. In 1979 the
Museum and the National Trust cosponsored an intern to develop this
important maritime archive.

The Ticonderoga will remain open to visitors at the Shelburne
Museum during the regular season, mid-May-mid-October each year and
to researchers throughout the year. The Shelburne Museum is a
non-profit organization founded in 1947 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Watson
Webb.