City of Richmond - Sidewheel Walking Beam Steamer

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City of Richmond - Sidewheel Walking Beam Steamer

The "City of Richmond" was a side wheel steamer with a walking beam engine. Those who are interested in walking beams and their technology may see a model (being restored) of the walking beam from the Ticonderoga at the Maine Antique Power Association on Beech Hill Crossroad in Mt. Desert - 207-244-0204. The Ticonderoga, one of the last walking beam side-wheel passenger steamboats in existence, and a Registered Historic Place is on display at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont.

"The 'City of Richmond' steamship sailed from Portland to Bar Harbor three days a week during the summer months in the late 1800s. In 1881 she ran aground on the Mark Island Ledge. She was rebuilt by the Portland Company and continued in service until 1892." - Maine Memory Network, Accessed online 10/17/07; http://www.mainememory.net/bin/Detail?ln=5949

"The Maine Central Railroad was still two years away from completing its rail line from Washington Junction (Ellsworth) to Hancock and what would become Mt. Desert Ferry, when it purchased the Portland, Bangor and Machias Steamboat Company in 1882. It appears that the primary asset was the rebuilt (1881) walking-beam side-wheel steamer "City of Richmond," which was promptly transferred to the Mt. Desert and Machiasport run. The ship's schedule was designed to serve the trains in Portland and Rockland.

In 1884 the trains started running through to Mt. Desert Ferry at the mouth of the Sullivan River in Hancock Point, and the Maine Central started to win the lion's share of the Mt. Desert Island business."- Mount Desert - An Informal History Edited by Gunnar Hansen, section written by Peter B. Bell, p. 166 - 1989

"I first came here at the age of three or four, in 1890 or 1891, on the steamer "City of Richmond." One went on board in Portland after a train journey from Boston or New York, spent the night on board, and woke up in the morning amid the delicious smells and sights of Eggemoggin Reach.

"The City of Richmond" was partly owned by her captain, Captain Gary, who was a great character along the coast.."- Mount Desert - An Informal History Edited by Gunnar Hansen, 'Memories of Northeast Harbor' by Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, p. 180 - 1989