[Rattlesnake Gal]

What a great thread! Thanks for the wonderful information Senter Cove Guy!!!

Originally Posted by NoBozo

The Nellie @ 30 feet, (1872) was the First.. I saw the Nellie this past weekend in the boat shed at Mystic Seaport.

Great museum! Here is more information about Nellie:

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Gal

The Nellie
In 1875 Nellie, the first propeller-driven steamboat arrived on Lake Winnipesaukee.
Brought overland by Captain George Duncan from Portsmouth.
Eventually returning back to service on salt water.
After 84 years as a pleasure boat, Nellie was given to the Marine Historical Association at Mystic, Connecticut in 1956.

Boathouse at Mystic Seaport Museum where Nellie can be seen.


Built by The Atlantic Works in East Boston in 1872.


30’ 10” long x 5’ 1” wide


Like all steam launches, Nellie suffered from a low horsepower to weight ratio.

Her engine and boiler were heavy, probably something like 1600 pounds for the single cylinder 4 horsepower engine.
Very heavy compared to the 35 pounds of a 4 horsepower outboard today.

Powerful for the time, the engine could move this big boat by turning the large propeller at only 100 rpm.

Steam engines were better suited to much larger boats and ships where they took up proportionally less space and weight.
This steam launch has been restored to her original appearance.
Any admirer of classic steamboats should visit this small yacht at this excellent museum.
Mystic Seaport, the Museum of America and the Sea.
More Nellie Photos

Also of interest at the museum:

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Gal

Rattlesnake Guy and I took a fieldtrip yesterday to Mystic Seaport, the Museum of America and the Sea in Mystic, Connecticut.
The 1969 copy of Farewell Old Mount Washington makes mention of the starboard lunette from the Mt. Washington being on display at Mystic Seaport.
R. Guy was preparing me for disappointment. Given how many years it has been since the publication, it wasn’t likely that it was still there.
The museum was exceptional and very large. It is very similar to Sturbridge Village, but of a seafaring town.
Upon getting the map, I gave up my quest and decided to just enjoy the tour. Finding the lunette would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Walking around a corner, there was a building with figureheads on display. We went in, I turned to the right and there it was.
I was very excited to have found this piece of historic memorabilia it and to have recognized it so easily.


The carving is of a mountain sunrise over Mount Washington. (The namesake of the ship.)
This adorned the starboard Paddlewheel box on Mt. Washington excursion steamboat on Lake Winnipesaukee.
Called a lunette, this fan-shaped panel was the center of one of the two huge boxes that covered the steamboat’s paddle wheels.
The half-round paddle boxes protected the wheels from damage and shielded passengers from the turning wheels and from the water thrown up by their blades. The base of the carving is approximately 8 feet wide. Full sized photo


This elaborately carved lunette adorned the Mt. Washington’s Port paddlewheel box.
It represents sunset over Mount Washington. (Notice the waves.)