The Mary Powell: Queen Of The Hudson

The Mary Powell: Queen Of The Hudson. . , Of the hundreds of steamboats which cperated on the Hudson River in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Mary Powell was the most famous of all. She was known as the Queen of the Hudson for her beauty, speed, and graciousness. The Powell was licensed to carry 1,500 to 1,800 passengers and often did. , She was a Rondout boat. For all of her 57 seasons on the Hudson, from 1861 to 1917, the Mary Powell operated out of the Rondout running to New York City daily, except Sundays, from mid-May to mid-September. She left Rondout at 5:30 a.m. in season every morning, and after making seven stops arrived at her pier in New York City at 10:45 a.m. Returning, the Powell left New York at 3:30 p.m. and made the same seven stops before reaching Rondout at 8:30 p.m. The Mary Powell was speedy and those were fast times for boats of that era. , Built for Absalom L. Anderson, an experienced steamboat captain and owner from Kingston, the Mary Powell had a perfect record for service, speed, and safety. A. L. Anderson and his son A. Eltinge Anderson served the Powell as owners and captains for most of her 57 year career, always maintaining her high standards. , The Mary Powell docked at various places along the Rondout during her career, including at the foot of Broadway. She wintered across the creek at the Sunflower Dock in Sleightsburg. The Hudson River Maritime Museum has a permanent exhibit on the Mary Powell, including pieces of the boat like her bell and whistle. , Funding for this sign was provide by a grant from the Hudson River Estuary Program, part of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. For more information, visit www.dec.ny.gov , Text and images for this sign were provided by the Hudson River Maritime Museum of Kingston, New York. For more information, visit www.hmm.org , The City of Kingston supports the creation and use of these interpretive panels on public and private property for the public good. Visit www.kingston-ny.gov , ( photo captions ) , , The steamboat Mary Powell underway with large crowd of passengers aboard passing the Palisades on her way to New York City, 1909. Photo from the Hudson River Maritime Museum Archives. , , Passengers on the top deck of the Mary Powell as she passes through the Hudson Highlands, c.1890s. The umbrellas were used for shade. From the Hudson River Maritime Museum Archives.