Canal Boats Carried Passengers in 1800s

Did you know …

 

If you traveled in the1800s, you might have purchased tickets for a passenger boat (called a passenger packet) on a canal. Early travelers used these manmade water routes before trains became popular.

Electric motors hadn’t been invented yet. Mules usually powered canal boats. Tied to a rope attached to the boat, mules walked along a towpath and pulled the heavy boats behind them.

A towpath was a cleared path beside the canal. A mule driver (also called a muleskinner) walked next to the mules to guide them along the towpath. Teenaged boys often served as muleskinners.

Often the ship’s captain also owned the boat. In addition to the captain, a steersman steered the boat, and the bowsman assisted the lockmaster at locks located along the canal. Locks are a type of water elevator to raise and lower boats for new water levels.

Passenger packets carried men, women, and children at about five miles per hour all through the day and night. These boats had a cabin the same length as the boat with curtained rectangular windows on both sides.

The cabin was usually divided into at least three sections with the largest section used as both a diner and a place to sit during the day. At night, crewmembers lowered the shelves that lined the walls for the male passengers and the crew to sleep on.

Women used another section for sleeping while the last room contained the ladies’ washroom.

In 1843, former President John Quincy Adams traveled on a canal boat through Ohio. According to his diary, his boat held six compartments including a stable for the mules and a kitchen with a sleeping room for the cook and crew. 

 

– Sandra Merville Hart

 

Resource

 Gieck, Jack. A Photo Album of Ohio’s Canal Era, 1825-1913, The Kent State University Press, 1988.