Hunterdon County Historical Society: When Durham Boats Were A Sweet Ride

Press release from the Hunterdon County Historical Society:

phyllis hartzell

August 5, 2021

By Rick Epstein

Durham boats had their moment in 1776 when they carried George Washington and the Continental Army across the Delaware to win the Battle of Trenton.

But did you ever wonder what those boats were doing when they weren’t getting their picture painted by Emanuel Leutze?

According to tradition, the first Durham boat was made circa 1730 by Robert Durham near the Durham caves just south of Riegelsville, Pa.. It carried iron smelted at the furnace in Durham, Pa., to market. These boats became the primary cargo vessel on the Upper Delaware.

Mansfield Merriman of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, writing in 1873 after the boats were no longer in use, describes them as “round-bottomed boats pointed at both stern and bow, about 60 feet long, 10 wide and 5 deep, with a low cabin for sleeping apartment, and one aft for provisions; the center of the boat was left free for the load.”

Goods carried down the Delaware might include flour, corn, corn meal and casks of pork – 150 barrels of flour at a time, or 15 to 16 tons, according the Hunterdon Independent in 1877.

“When fully loaded,” wrote Merriman, “they drew about 30 inches; the usual load on the down trip being 20 tons, on the trip up five to ten tons. The time required for a trip from Easton to Trenton was one day, while the return trip normally occupied three days.”

John A. Anderson (1829-1917) wrote, “On the Delaware, the crew usually consisted of three men,” floating downstream with the current, aided by a pair of 18-foot oars. “Moving up stream the boat was usually propelled by ‘setting poles,’ 12 to 18 feet long and shod with iron. On the thwarts was laid, one each side, a plank 12 inches wide. On these ‘walking boards’ members of the crew, starting at the forward end, with poles on the river bottom and top ends to shoulders, walked to the stern, pushing the boat forward. While they rapidly returned to repeat the process, the captain, who steered, used a pole to hold the boat from going back with the current.

“Sometimes the nature of the banks admitted of drawing the boat along by catching hold of the overhanging bushes, a process known as ‘pulling brush.’

“The boat as a rule was painted black and was without a special name. A moveable mast, 6 inches in diameter, and 33 feet long, with a boom of the same length and a three-cornered sail, enabled the boat to sail upstream when wind favored.”

Anderson, who lived in Lambertville, was superintendent of the Belvidere & Delaware Railroad in 1870-1886, and the Delaware & Raritan Canal, 1886-1900. Author of “Navigation of the Upper Delaware,” his Durham-boat expert was 78-year-old Wilson Lugar (1832-1900) of Solebury Township, Pa., a retired carpenter.

This press release was produced by the Hunterdon County Historical Society. The views expressed here are the author’s own.