SS Mount Washington
by Mim White
Title
SS Mount Washington
Artist
Mim White
Medium
Painting
Description
Since 1872 there have been only two vessels named Mount Washington to have cruised the beautiful waters of New Hampshire's largest lake, Winnipesaukee.
The first vessel was a wooden side-wheeler 178 feet in length with a beam of 49 feet. It was built and launched in 1872 at Alton Bay, New Hampshire. Referred to today as the "Old Mount", this vessel was built by the Boston & Maine Railroad company for the sole purpose of transporting travelers and cargo from one side of the big lake to the other. The affiliation with the railroad brought this grand steamer worldwide notoriety from the company's vast marketing and advertising resources. The S.S. Mount Washington was only one of many steamships operating on the lake in the late 1800s. However, in just a few short years she had become Queen of the Winnipesaukee fleet and dominated the lake transportation business, mainly because she was the fastest of the major steamers plying the lake waters. It was not uncommon for her to have transported over 60,000 people per season in the late 1800s. This was due to the fact that New Hampshire's White Mountains was one of the most popular destinations for vacation travelers and the most prominent way to get there was by railroad car, which traveled through the Lakes Region. This early exposure to a diverse clientele paid big dividends, as many people bought property and built summer homes around the lake.
Later, when the automobile began to slowly take away from the railroad business, the old side-wheeler was sold and thus began her life as primarily a tourist attraction. The Grand 'ol Lady continued to carry 60,000 plus passengers a year and stopped at the many different ports around the lake. The B&M Railroad continued, well into the 1940's to bring tourists from the greater Boston area to the Weirs.
The home port of Weirs Beach was an attraction in itself with a busy railroad station, large dance pavilion and beautiful grand hotel overlooking Weirs Bay and the surrounding mountains. This beautiful resort area experienced two major fires 15 years apart. The first one, in 1924, sadly destroyed the grand Hotel Weirs. The second fire proved to be more disastrous. On a cold December evening in 1939, a fire broke out in the railroad station and quickly spread down the ramp to the dock where the S.S. Mount Washington was berthed for the winter. Futile attempts were made to set her free; for she was stuck in the mud as a result of the common, low lake water levels that time of year. The ship was completely destroyed as was the entire railroad station and boardwalk.
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January 14th, 2015
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