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Steamboat City of Hartford following collision with Middletown Railroad Bridge

Dateafter 1876

MediumPhotography; photographic emulsion on glass lantern slide, bound with black paper

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 2 11/16 x 2 15/16in. (6.8 x 7.5cm)
Sheet (height x width): 3 1/4 x 4 3/16in. (8.3 x 10.6cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Audrey Brett

DescriptionTwo steamboats are in the Connecticut River near an iron railroad bridge. Ironwork from the bridge is draped across the vessel at the left, the City of Hartford. A man stands on the tracks of the Connecticut Valley Railroad in the foreground.

Object number2009.109.1

InscribedOn verso, on right margin, accession numberNotesSubject Note: On March 29, 1876, the captain of the steamboat "City of Hartford" mistook a light in the town of Middletown for the marker on the bridge, causing the ship to miss the draw span and ram the railroad bridge. The City of Hartford (renamed Capitol City in 1883) was built 1852 in Greenpoint, New York by Samuel Sneeden. She was owned by the Hartford & New York Steamboat Company. Surviving the 1876 mishap, she went aground and broke up on the rocks off Rye Beach, New York 31 March 1886.

Subject Terms