Today, recreational boating is a pastime available to many Connecticut residents. The concept of pleasure boating first became a reality for most people in the early 1800s, with the newly invented steamboat. For the first time, Connecticut’s rivers conveniently connected state residents to the sea and previously far-off ports for both business and pleasure.

Steamboats were really the leading edge of the transportation revolution in the early 19^th Century.  And for the first time shippers didn’t have to worry about the wind or the tide and of great importance to the development of business was the fact that you could count on them coming. They were really the first, with the exception of the stagecoach, public transportation that was embraced by lots and lots of Americans.

Disasters, of course, were not uncommon to steamboats. But the American public loved the steamboat and they embraced the industry.

And with the increase of their use came more competition and vast improvements to the steamboats. They became known for speed and they really vied for business by having crystal chandeliers and grand salons with rosewood furniture and brocade upholstery and wonderful tapestries and interior paintings.

It was steamboats that enabled hundreds of New Yorkers to come up the Connecticut past Goodspeed’s Landing in East Haddam to Upper Landing just to the north where there was a great hotel, The Champion House, and a very successful music seminary. William Goodspeed who was a great entrepreneur and had a general store in town in 1876 he opened the opera house. He brought New York theater to people along the Connecticut River and that in turn attracted summer visitors. This was sort of the beginning of destination tourism and establishments like this sprung up all along the steamboat routes

Although the steamboat transportation industry is long vanished, thousands of Connecticut residents still use the water as an alternative to travel over land.  At the Water Street Dock in downtown Bridgeport, ferries owned by the Bridgeport Port Jefferson Steamboat Company traverse the sound several times a day.  Started in the late 1800s by a group that included P. T. Barnum, the ferries run year round, and along with the ferry service at New London, comprise a water highway linking Connecticut to Long Island.

They are the modern-day counterpart to the steamers that helped bring mid-19^th Century residents to riverside and coastal areas for rest and recreation. About 2.2 million passengers use the ferries each year taking about 745,000 vehicles off the road.

Adapted From Connecticut and The Sea - by Kenneth A. Simon