Five

Transportation

Transportation in Penn Yan was accomplished on foot or horseback through the woods until the Erie Canal opened in 1825. This event lead to plans to link Keuka Lake to Seneca Lake, which then lead to the Erie Canal. The canal, completed in 1833, was the principal means of shipping freight until the first railroad arrived in the 1850s. Railroads at both ends of the lake were served by steamboats, which operated continuously from 1835 to 1922. There were seven steamboats running in the peak year of 1895. By 1915, only one steamboat was left on the lake; they had been replaced by trucks, automobiles, and buses, such as the one shown above on Jacob (East Elm) Street in a 1916 photograph.

Notice the “ghost” images of one or more men who stood still for only part of the long exposure required for this 1870 silver albumen print of Lock 28. The towpath and bridge across the outlet were submerged by the spring floods. The steps on the left led up to Main Street while water rushed over the control dam. The Crooked Lake Canal was abandoned in 1877.

The warehouses in this view (along the outlet from the Liberty Street Bridge) were used for the trans-loading of freight between steamboats and the railroad. The rail line shown is the Fall Brook Line, which went to the lake. Within the village, there were warehouses and factories along most of its length.

This photograph depicts the captain of a steamboat, probably the Halsey or the Holmes, in his pilothouse. The captain of a Keuka Lake Steamer was a prestigious position which men worked years to attain. The hat on the bench probably belongs to the photographer, who would have had to remove it to focus his camera.

Steamboats on Keuka Lake would pull up to any dock that provided sufficient draft and had pilings. The side-wheeler Yates II, originally the Holmes, was purchased in 1904 from the Lake Keuka Navigation Company. One hundred twenty feet in length with a 20-foot beam, Yates II had a condensing steam engine with a 30-inch cylinder and 6-foot stroke that delivered 325 horsepower and a speed of 14 knots.

Most of the Penn Yan Harbor can be seen in this print from a c. 1905 glass negative. The lake level was kept high in those days to allow the steamboats to turn around (as can be seen with the Steuben III’s bow in Sucker Brook). The Steuben III was built in 1887 at Penn Yan by A.W. Springstead and named the Wm. L. Halsey. It was renamed the Steuben III in 1904. This ship was almost a duplicate of the Holmes. The Steuben III sank at dock in 1915 and was not raised. Other steamboats in the harbor are the Yates II and two private boats.

This unusual round photograph was taken of the Mary Bell in the harbor at Penn Yan. The Mary Bell was built in Hammondsport for the Lake Keuka Navigation Company. Her launching in May of 1892 drew a crowd of ten thousand spectators. A twin-engine, twin-screw, steel-hulled boat, her best time for the Hammondsport-Penn Yan run was one hour eighteen minutes. The Erie railroad purchased the Mary Bell in 1904. She continued to navigate Keuka as the Penn Yan until 1922. She was the last steamboat on Keuka Lake.

The steel-hulled Cricket, shown entering the outlet at the head of Keuka Lake, was built by A.W. Springstead in Penn Yan. It was the last steamer built on Keuka Lake. While one of the smallest boats, it had a rated speed of 18 miles per hour on the Penn Yan-Branchport run. The Cricket burned in Hammondsport in 1909.

Grapes comprised the largest single commodity carried by the steamboats, other than passengers. The product was shipped to the railroads from vineyards around the lake. In the late summer and fall when the grapes were moved to the packers in Penn Yan for shipment to the cities in the northeast, passengers were packed onto decks piled high with grape boxes.

Winter photographs of steamboats are unusual because the boats were usually beached before the lake froze. When the lake level was dropped to minimize ice damage, the steamboats were high and dry. Other boats in the 1900 photograph at the Penn Yan docks with the Halsey are the West Branch (bow only) and the Holmes. The fruit house in the background now houses Carey’s Lumber.

In May 1897, construction was started on the Penn Yan, Keuka Park and Branchport Railway. The tracks for the electric railway ran from the Northern Central station on Hamilton Street along Jacob (East Elm) Street and Elm Street within the village. The tracks continued along the highway right-of-way to Branchport. Building the tracks across Main Street was difficult manual labor, as can be seen in this photograph.

The construction of the tracks on Jacob Street is shown in this 1897 photograph. None of the streets in town were paved at that time. As a result, construction went quickly. The people in ties on the sidewalk outnumber the men wielding shovels.

Car #17 is stopped in front of the waiting room for the Penn Yan, Keuka Park & Branchport on Elm Street in this 1907 photograph by W.J. Harris. Even though this is an enclosed car, it was not heated. Consequently, the 8-mile ride to Branchport could be a cold one.

Car #10 is shown at the water tower at the Northern Central depot on Jacob Street in this photograph made from the original glass-plate negative. There were other stations at Branchport, Keuka Park, and Bluff Point. Cars #10, #11, and #12 were open cars used in warmer weather.

Car #11 climbs the hill after crossing the end of the lake at Branchport. The 8.5-mile line was affectionately called the “Pie, Cake & Biscuits” line because of its initials, and other times the “Toonerville Trolley.” It operated from 1897 to 1927. The rails were removed in 1936 as a WPA project.

P.Y., K.P. & B car #11 at Keuka Park landing is pictured here. Fares on the railway were 15¢ one way and 25¢ round trip. The trolleys were popular with the Keuka College students because they were the only way into town for shopping or entertainment or to catch trains home.

The Kinneys Corners siding is shown in this postcard from the early 1900s. The roof of the Bluff Point Methodist Church and Yoder Hill vineyards and orchards can be seen in the background. The electrical generator for the railway was at Brandy Bay (on Keuka Lake), which was about halfway between Penn Yan and Branchport.

In 1884 a group of Penn Yan businessmen formed the Penn Yan and New York Railway to link Penn Yan with the New York Central Railroad at Dresden. The railroad was built, for the most part, on the towpath of the abandoned Crooked Lake Canal alongside the Keuka Lake outlet. The railway, which later became a branch of the Fallbrook Railroad, serviced the mills and warehouses that had been built along the canal.

Although this train appears to be going down a hill, the drop in elevation for the 8 miles between Keuka Lake and the N.Y.C. Railroad is only about 200 feet. A popular Sunday excursion was to go to Watkins Glen, walk through the gorge, and have a picnic.