Elmer S. Dailey
Canal Barge · United States · Lost Exact date in 1974 not established in the sources reviewed. · Long Island Sound & the Connecticut Shore
Believed to be the last surviving Erie Canal boat in the country, this wooden barge sank at a Bridgeport pier in 1974 alongside two sister vessels.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Elmer S. Dailey was built in 1915 at Tonawanda, New York, as the Claire B. Follette, a wooden Erie Canal boat, and was rebuilt and renamed in 1928. Fitted with twin diesel engines, she carried bulk cargo among New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut ports for the S. J. Dailey Company. In 1974 she sank at a deteriorating Bridgeport Harbor pier together with the Priscilla Dailey and Berkshire No. 7, and is believed to be the last surviving Erie Canal boat in existence. All three barges were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Vessel
- 1915
- US Registry #166315
- William H. Follette
- Not established
- Wood
- 105.2 ft
- 17.9 ft
- 101
- Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines
- S. J. Dailey Company (Stewart J. Dailey)
Loss
- Exact date in 1974 not established in the sources reviewed.
- Mechanical failure
- Bridgeport Harbor, on the west side of the Pequonnock River, just south of the Stratford Avenue Bridge, Bridgeport, Connecticut
- Long Island Sound (Bridgeport Harbor, Pequonnock River)
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Deteriorated wooden hull, partly visible at low tide from the Stratford Avenue Bridge; stacked with two other sunken barges at the same site.
- Not established
- Not established
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (December 21, 1978)
Position
- 41.18° N 73.19° W
- Approximate position
- Bridgeport Harbor, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Position corresponds to the National Register of Historic Places nomination location for the three Bridgeport barges.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (72/100)
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places
Builder, dimensions, tonnage, registry number, construction, and sinking circumstances.
University of Connecticut, Connecticut Underwater Archaeology
Narrative of the 1974 sinking and the three barges' condition and significance.
