Name/Title
Balloon (1839)Entry/Object ID
2017.11.008Description
Year Built: 1839
Built By: Devine Burtis
Built At: New York, NY
Built For: Isaac Winchester
Official Number: 2032
Purchase Price: $50,000
Length: 160.0 feet
Beam: 18.0 feet
Depth of Hold: 7.6 feet
Gross Tons: 204
Propulsion: Sidewheels of 26.0 feet diameter
Hull: Wood
Engine: Vertical Beam Engine with a cylinder of 28.0 inch diameter and 11 feet stroke
Passenger Capacity:
Purchased by: Eastern Shore Steamboat Company in 1860, James Dixon in 1861 for $12,000, J. H. Cruise for $12,500 on 9 March 1866 after having been used by the U. S. Quartermaster Department since 1861 and resold that same day to Baltimore broker Henry J. Stranberg. Peoples Accommodation Steamboat Company of Baltimore in 1869. Sold out of Chesapeake Bay service in March 1871.
Route: Baltimore to Chester River Landings in 1860, Baltimore to Annapolis and St. Michaels
Captains: Captain John R. Griffith in 1861, Captain Strandberg in 1866
Later Name:
Comments:
1866, 17 October; The Baltimore Sun reported that a gentleman from the Eastern Shore took passage on the steamer Balloon for Baltimore, on Thursday, but before reaching Wye Landing was attacked with what seemed to be premonitory symptoms of cholera. The boat returned with him to St. Michales where he is now doing better.
1869, 25 February; The Baltimore Sun reported that two men were arrested yesterday for stealing a lot of cast iron bars, valued at $15, from the steamer Balloon. They were both committed for the action of the Grand Jury.
Disposition: Burned at Kaighn's Point, NJ on 29 October 1872.
Reference: (6) p. 127, (17) p. 15, (55) pp. 9-10