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Steamers
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To get to Castine, travelers typically took the overnight steamer from Boston to Belfast (on the Boston to Bangor Line). Noah Brooks discusses taking this steamer and passing Gloucester. Then one would transfer in Belfast to a much smaller ship to Castine. Castine residents regularly looked for the arrival and departure of "the boat."
The first attempt to establish steamboat service between Gloucester and Boston came in 1846 when Menemon Sanford placed the steamboat "Yacht" on irregular passages between the two ports.
Steamers between Boston and Portland, Maine, were established in the 1830s.
References:
"Travel on the Penobscot," Wilson Museum Bulletin. (Fall 1977) vo. 2, no.10
Allie Ryan, Penobscot Bay, Mount Desert and Eastport Steamboat Album. (Downeast Magazine)
Related tables: "T. F. Secor" (Steamboat) » // Brooks, Noah » // Castine » // Steamship / Engine-Powered Vessel / Coastal Steamer »
Personal diary
Castine Historical Society
From July 25-August 16,1848, Castine native Noah Brooks made a return visit to his hometown. He was eighteen at the time, and had been living in Boston. In his diary, there is no mention of Lane, but he recounts Castine gossip, and writes about visits with the Stevens and Witherle familes, accounts of swimming in Back Cove, and reading Wuthering Heights. The daily arrival of "the boat" (the "T.F.S." or the "Secor")—the way it was anticipated and observed by Castine residents—is notable.
Castine Historical Society Collections (2015.03)
Also filed under: Historic Photographs » // Steamship / Engine-Powered Vessel / Coastal Steamer »
Steamer schedules for 1855, including the schedule for the steamer, "T. F. Secor" which served Castine, see pp. 234–35.
Also filed under: "T. F. Secor" (Steamboat) » // Castine » // Publications » // Steamship / Engine-Powered Vessel / Coastal Steamer »
