Here are bits and pieces from the book regarding the history of the “Dover” & “Chocorua”
The “Dover” was built in 1851, and was of a construction type peculiar to those days. Instead of having the decks and upper portion of the boat derive support solely from truss-like structures and ribbing build up from the keel, this craft had a “hog-frame,” so-called from its hog-back shape, which gave support from above as well as below. The two arched frames, sweeping from bow to stern above decks, gave this type of boat an unusual appearance. It is said that on March 20, 1851, every stick of timber and plank of which the hull was constructed was standing in the forest; yet she made her maiden voyage only seventeen months later on August 18, 1852, running between Alton Bay, Wolfeboro, Long Island, Center Harbor and Meredith.
The “Dover, “ not proving large enough for the growing number of passengers, was rebuilt, with some length added, and was renamed the “Chocorua.” On a Sunday morning in August 1866, having been tied up at the Meredith wharf overnight, she was discovered with her stern resting on the lake bottom. It is believed that some member of the crew left a cap off one of the intake tubes, and she filled with water during the night. A diver was summoned from Boston, necessary underwater repairs were made; and with the Meredith town hand-tub, borrowed from the fire department, the boat was pumped out and raised to the surface, to resume operations for the remainder of the season.
With the coming of the “Mount Washington” the “Chocorua” was retired from service and used only for special parties, being finally dismantled in 1875, in a cove just back of the steamboat landing at Alton Bay, where a small part of her remains may still be found.
