AH-WR-1139

Granite State

Passenger Sidewheel Steamer · United States · Lost 1883 · Long Island Sound & the Connecticut Shore

One of the grand Hartford–New York night boats burned to the waterline at a Connecticut River landing, and her hulk still lies where it was towed as a breakwater.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Granite State was one of the last and largest of the elegant wooden steamers that ran nightly between Hartford and New York for the Hartford and New York Transportation Company. On May 18, 1883, while approaching the dock at Goodspeed's Landing in East Haddam, she caught fire and burned so quickly that she could not be brought alongside; five people died, including two crew members and a passenger who drowned after jumping overboard. The gutted hull drifted onto a shoal near Lord's Island and lay there for months before being towed downriver in 1884 and sunk as a breakwater at the mouth of Old Saybrook's North Cove, where remnants are still said to lie.

Vessel

Built: 1853
Registry: US registry no. 10332
Builder: Samuel Sneden
Yard: Greenpoint, New York
Material: Wood
Length: 270 ft
Beam: 30 ft
Tonnage: 887
Propulsion: Steam, walking-beam engine, sidewheels
Owners: Hartford and New York Transportation Company

Loss

Date: May 18, 1883
Cause: Fire
Location: Connecticut River, near Goodspeed's Landing, East Haddam, Connecticut
Water: Connecticut River
Voyage: Hartford, Connecticut → New York City
Cargo: General freight, including horses
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 5
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Burned hull was later towed to Old Saybrook's North Cove in 1884 and left as a breakwater; largely rotted and submerged since.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Goodspeed's Landing, East Haddam, Connecticut
Region: Long Island Sound & the Connecticut Shore

The burned hull's final resting place at the entrance to North Cove, Old Saybrook, is described in local histories but no precise coordinates were located.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (65/100)

The precise present-day location and condition of the hull's remains in North Cove are not established with certainty in the sources reviewed.

Old Saybrook Historical Society
Vessel dimensions, builder, fire, and the towing and sinking of the hull at North Cove.
Voices on the River (lower Connecticut River history blog)
Location of the burning at Lord's Island shoal near Goodspeed's Landing.
International Maritime Library
Vessel dimensions, tonnage, launch year, and builder.