|
The Hudson River Barge Museum
A
t W
o r k
o n
N e w
Y o
r k W
a t
e r
s "This website was prepared for the New York State Department of State with funds provided under Title 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund."
MISSION
The mission of the Hudson River Barge Museum is to reconnect community members, especially youth, with the rich history and lore of the working Hudson – the people, vessels, and river that together built the Hudson Valley we know today.
With their first encounter, people and the Hudson put each
other to work: people pressing the river into service for commerce and transportation;
the river coaxing people to invent the vessels, ports and trades that
THE BARGE MUSEUM’S
SPECIAL AUDIENCE: YOUNGSTERS Though the Barge Museum will appeal to all ages, the most important aspect of our mission will be to have a positive impact on the lives of young people. While we reconnect communities to the Hudson River and its rich legacy, we will also reach individual children with participatory projects both onshore and aboard the museum. Because we live in an adult world where most young people don’t have enough constructive activities to occupy their time, we will provide activities of interest and lasting challenge based on their local heritage. Our Museum Without Walls will travel to local schools to prepare students for their Barge museum experience with lessons in Boat Building, Sailboat Rigging, Sailing, Rowing, Fishing Lore, Sail Making & Repair, Navigation & Chart Reading, Weather, Boating Safety, Knot Tying and Marlinspike seamanship and more. Imagine the magic of weaving a fishing net from a ball of twine and thin air. THE BARGE MUSEUM’S SPECIAL CARGO:
HISTORY The Hudson River Barge Museum itself will be a living, traveling story. Its central character, storyteller and exhibit will be a faithfully designed, constructed and outfitted, 120 foot-long, covered railroad barge. From its homeport in Beacon it will sail New York’s water highways and beyond, making extended stops in waterfront towns, delivering the history and the experience of the working Hudson. The story begins with the Barge Museum’s arrival at a community waterfront. The docking procedure is an education itself. Pushed or pulled by tugboat, the barge’s approach to shore can be watched miles off. Already a different world comes alive as we witness the expert navigational skills of the tug captain, the careful yet swift handling of the heavy, thick lines by the crew, and the close-up, slow-motion landing of the huge barge, no longer dwarfed by the river’s breadth and length. Entering the barge through
the big freight house doors will be a step back in time, into the era
of the Hudson River’s working life. The
present falls away amidst the post and
WHY A COVERED BARGE? The covered barge embodies the history of centuries of river tradition
from settlement of the valley to the lives of contemporary fishermen.
The history that unfolds within its walls, upon its decks and along the
shore, relates the story of the emergence of the Hudson as a global presence in the modern
world. When America’s rivers were the natural highways of the new world, the Hudson River was the transportation backbone of New York.
Once extended by the Erie Canal, the Hudson became the principal artery of an interstate transportation system that connected the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, the Port of New York and the markets of the world – barge by barge by barge. At first, barges were individual cargo vessels pulled by mules or current. The marine steam engine made it possible to tow a train of barges up or downstream, on a reliable schedule. The marriage of barge and railroad was inevitable and the two powered the growth of the Empire state. On the Hudson and in
New York Harbor the “railroad navy” or “water belt line” connected
waterfront rail terminals with other ports. According to rail-marine expert Thomas Flagg, “The
geography of the Port of New York forced the railroads serving it to rely on
fleets of ferries, tugboats and barges to deliver freight and passengers to
parts of the harbor they could not reach with rails. These railroad marine
operations . . . were a vital and colorful part of the Port for a century, and
were more extensive here than anywhere else in the world.” Barges carried people, lumber and construction materials, oil, ice, livestock,
Unloading Sheep at Pier 78 on the Hudson, NYC
and even entire rail cars. The covered railroad barge, sometimes called a house barge, was the water borne equivalent of the boxcar, a carrier of the perishable freight that required sheltered transport. Though most often thought of as movers of goods, the covered railroad barge evolved from the barges that first moved people along the Hudson River and Erie Canal. According to Norman Brouwer, Marine Historian of the South Street Seaport Museum, they date back to the 1820-1840 era of “safety barges” that were towed by tug or steamboat and “provided transportation for people concerned about the danger of boiler explosions on steam propelled craft.”
Tagged
immigrants in transit
In
its service to the railroad, beginning in the late 1800s, the covered barge
became one of the most ubiquitous large craft in the Port of New York,
handling 63% of the rail freight that traveled New York waters, according to a
1924 study. Typically ranging
Detail from 1960 Army Corps map showing the Hudson River terminals
for the B&O, Lehigh barges had a deckhouse
covering most of the main deck. Cargo
was carried or wheeled overdeck through the huge sliding freight house doors
or lowered through hatches Eventually the
railroad navy was rendered obsolete by the shipping industry’s shift to
container systems outside the Port of New York and the abandonment of
waterfront railroad operations. Historically
when individual covered barges were retired from railroad
service, they were sometimes acquired by Hudson River commercial fishing
operations. When the railroad finally
decommissioned its fleet, some barges were scuttled, some were sunk to build
breakwaters, others were filled with stone and used as bulkheads.
But the commercial fishing industry gave many covered barges a second
chance in the world of water borne commerce.
Taking a page from railroad bunk cars, living quarters were constructed for a full crew with sleeping quarters and galley. Some barges were itinerant, following the shad upriver along with fishermen, boats and gear. As distinct from its cousins in the railroad navy, the covered railroad barge on the Hudson represented a continuum of activity that did not end with its service to the railroad. The ownership of the barges changed in mid-life but their original purpose continued: the transportation and commerce needs of the Hudson River.
A
BARGE RIDE THROUGH HISTORY The covered barge is a versatile, colorful and authentic representative for the multi-layered history of the working Hudson and its role in all of our lives. And so, the story that the Hudson River Barge Museum delivers from town to town will cross time, setting, and generations of human activity, to bring that history home. Like the protagonist in any good story the barge must have its own tale to tell.
The story of the barge that we will create for the benefit of the visiting public will include the evolution of the railroad barge from the early days of the “safety barges” and non-motorized cargo scows that operated locally, to its role in helping the river and its port to rank among the most important commercial waterways and natural harbor’s in the world. It’s own personal story of service will begin with its design and construction for service to the railroad navy of New York Harbor, include its service to the commercial fishing industry on the Hudson River, and conclude with the museum’s own itinerary of delivering a unique presentation of history to New York towns and beyond. The emphasis of the Barge Museum will be activity. It will be designed and constructed as a working vessel capable of performing any of the services and activities representative of its history. It will utilize a live-aboard crew, interactive displays and demonstrations on board and shore side, information technology, seminars and workshops. The Vessel The barge will measure 120 feet by 40 feet with more than 6,000 square feet of public space. Through extensive research, consultation with experts, and review of all available plans, we will assure that its design and construction will be faithful to the vessel’s original purposes. One modification that we will make to the design will be the inclusion of “spuds”, steel I-beam pilings located at the corners of the barge that can be hydraulically driven into the riverbed to moor the museum securely at each stop.
Our research at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia has yielded plans for our preferred design option – a steel-hulled, wood-covered barge that will allow full use of the below deck area. The plans, for Pennsylvania Railroad Barge #408, are from the Brewer Dry Dock Company in Staten Island and date back to January 12, 1940.
While the hull will be fabricated at a steel shipyard yet to be determined, the remainder of the construction will take place at the historic Julius Petersen Boat Yard in Upper Nyack, NY.
This stage of construction will be an educational event with tours and programs planned around it. The upper deck or freight house will have the authentic environment, ambience and outfitting of a classic railroad barge. Below deck will be a gallery, classroom and theater/media room. The details of these areas are discussed below. The spuds will allow the museum to dock at towns and communities that might ordinarily be skipped due to shore constraints or inadequate docking facilities. Thus outfitted, the Hudson River Barge Museum will enable almost any local community to have its own Hudson River museum virtually overnight.
The Crew The captain and crew will be integral to all
aspects of the museum and active participants in the visitor’s experience.
the chief responsibility of drawing visitors into their life aboard. The crew will be trained in the history of the barge’s story and will be able to demonstrate and perform all barge functions as well as folk arts such as boat building, marlinespike seamanship and net making. Susan Landstreet, Executive Director of the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, will assist us in the development of the crew’s role-playing and interaction with the public. The Freight House The freight house is the most distinguishing feature of the barge. A classic maritime design, from its cambered roof to its beveled pine siding, the freight house will have a footprint of approximately 100 x 30 feet on the 120 x 40 foot barge deck. Inside it will contain the equipment, cargo and outfitting commensurate with our barge’s history. In addition it will contain a series of Learning Stations with interactive exhibits, hands-on demonstrations, and living and working quarters that visitors will be encouraged to touch, enjoy, and use. Here the individual crewmembers will involve visitors in activities, answer questions, and interact with other crewmembers about the barge’s regular business. Some examples of Learning Stations that the barge might include: Learning Station #1
(Entering the Freight House) --
Visitors
enter through the large freight house doors.
A member of the crew welcomes them with an overview of the history of
New York’s waterborne commerce and the tradition of the Hudson as a working
waterway. The role of the
railroad navy and the “life story” of our particular barge set the stage
for all that is to come. This
thoroughly integrated introduction will prepare the visitor for the mission of
the museum but more importantly provide a portrait of the river, the barge,
its crew and the shore side towns as pieces in a seamless story of the working
waterway that built New York into a global center. Learning Station #2
(Freight and Lighterage Display) -- “Stick
lighters,” “steam lighters,” “open scows,” “rough freight,” “carfloatage”
– the language of the railroad navy is as strange as the idea that a
railroad might have a navy.
A crewmember explains the
reasons for the design of the covered barge and its history from passenger
carrier, to canal barge, to immigrant ship, to railroad barge to commercial
fishing mother ship. Today,
30,000 barges of all kinds move 15% of the nation’s freight over U.S.
waters. The central teaching tool at this station is a permanent installation
documenting the construction of the Barge Museum itself.
There will also be images, sample freight, memorabilia and objects that
illustrate the barge’s varied service.
Armed with local history the crewmember explains where such barges
landed locally, the nature of their service and the location of its most
recent use in the fishing industry.
Learning
Station #3 (Captain’s Quarters) The
captain welcomes you to the
nerve center of the barge but immediately you think of it as his home. There
is a bed platform with a plank holding in the thin mattress and blankets. Photos of family and vessels dot the wall.
The Captain’s desk is piled with logbooks.
A No. 32 Shipmate Range, standard equipment, stands along the portside
wall. Many river captains and fishermen were the
children of river captains and fishermen.
A good captain can draw a map of the river’s navigation hazards from
memory. The tides govern
much river activity. Commercial
vessels try to “fair-tide” -- take advantage of the incoming tides when
traveling north and the outgoing tides when traveling south.
Fishermen tend their nets on the high tides.
In this intimate setting the captain conducts an instant class about
living in tune with the river’s ways.
Learning Station #4
(Bunkhouse and Galley) -- Generations
of history meet in the bunkhouse and galley.
The historic covered barge spent much of its life in service to the
needs of people -- as transportation for newly arrived immigrants, home to
barge captains and their families, mother ships for commercial fishermen, “floating
hospital” for the poor, excursion boat in New York Harbor.
The cook explains how mealtimes were the main chance to talk about the
day’s business. Over some river
fare, visitors will hear the river’s stories and myths that are told and
retold over the crew’s dinner. The
bunkhouse will be outfitted to be consistent with its use by the commercial
fishery, as a “look back” from the barge’s most recent use.
Learning Station #5 (Net Loft) --
This is a special
station that allows visitors to participate in a disappearing piece of
maritime history: the skills of the
seamen and the fishermen who once called these barges home. A
crewmember demonstrates the marlinspike seamanship and netmaking skills that
were once counted as the indigenous folk arts of the region.
Hanging from the rafters will
Learning Station #6 (Boat shop) -- Details of construction yield valuable lessons about the purpose of a vessel’s design. Explore the workbench and learn some of the techniques of joinery, construction and repair.
Here an expert builder will demonstrate a variety of hand tools and methods typical of the era. Learn how the four foot long scarf joints, visible in the barge’s timbers, were fit by eye and hand.
A Whitehall rowing craft, at some stage of construction, will always be on display. This traditional, indigenous craft is one of the most renowned rowing boats in the world and named for Whitehall Street in New York City. In the era that predated small marine engines, this so-called “water taxi” was the most common mode of transportation for bringing supplies and people to the large commercial vessels working New York Harbor. The Whitehall became so popular that it was eventually adopted by the Hudson River shad fishery where its reputation as a river workhorse still cause many in the Hudson Valley to recall it as the “Hudson River Shad Boat.”
Below-Decks -- In contrast to the above-decks, this area will utilize the newest technologies to create a modern exhibition gallery with adjacent theater/meeting room and conference/classroom. Having been transported in time by the walk through the freight house, the visitor will descend the stairs to the exhibition area.
There will be a startling atmospheric change from the upstairs to the
brilliantly lit downstairs. The presentation of traditional barge life will
contrast dramatically with the bright white, climate-controlled modern gallery
level, bringing each into clearer focus. Exhibit /Gallery Area -- Arranged throughout the gallery are photographs, artifacts, displays and interactive computer stations that offer CD presentations, video files, and remote broadcasts from cameras located throughout the barge, including the equipment rooms. The Gallery will be home to a substantial historical archive of never before collected images, objects and artifacts heretofore dispersed amongst stacks of local libraries, the attics of the descendants of fishermen and river captains, and the files of museums and historical societies. For the visitor, these will complete the full context of the barge’s story and the story of the lives that were lived aboard it.
As the Barge Museum moors at each community, a portion of the gallery will be turned over to a local Historical Society or community group to present the theme of the Hudson as a working waterway within the context of the particular locale in which the museum is moored. The dockside installation and its shore programs will further enhance the community’s experience.
Waterfront celebration, Waterford, NY
Theater-Media Room & Conference Room/Classroom -- A main feature of the Theater-Media Room will be live remote satellite broadcasts. Utilizing software and hardware similar to those developed by the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, we will present broadcasts from commercial and research vessels, fishing boats, ports and other locations where personnel will be able to interact with the audience. Over time a substantial collection of digital video files will have been collected. From a sophisticated control panel in the theater, experienced presenters can instantly select files from the large digital library to customize the program in immediate response to audience needs and questions. This combined area will be the core of the larger-scale educational programs that will be offered at the Barge Museum. The Conference and Classroom areas offer flexible space that can be split in half with a full-height sound-dampening divider for both learning and meeting experiences. ON SHORE PROGRAMS
ITINERARY
COMMUNITY SERVICES
|
connected the river to the world.
Fishermen
converted railroad barges to mother ships for their fishing operations.
be lines of all sizes, block and tackle,
and skeins of fishing nets, the artifacts that memorialize how human and river
interacted daily.
