Name/Title
B. S. Ford (1877)Entry/Object ID
2017.1.008Description
Year Built: 1877
Built By: Harlan & Hollingsworth
Built At: Wilmington, DE
Built For: Chester River Steamboat Company
Hull Number: 161
Official Number: 3044
Purchase Price: $75,000
Length: 164.6 feet
Beam: 27.2 feet
Depth of Hold: 8.5 feet
Gross Tons: 417
Propulsion: Sidewheel
Hull: Iron
Engine: Walking beam engine with a cylinder of 36 inches diameter and six feet stroke
Passenger Capacity:
Purchased by: Maryland, Delaware and Virginia Railroad Company (MD&V), a subsiderary of the Pennsylvania Rairoad, in 1905. Ownership assumed by Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railway Company on 8 July 1924. Sold to Baltimore and Virginia Steamboat Company on 3 December 1928. Sold to private interests on 22 May 1929.
Route: Baltimore to Chester River wharfs.
Captains: Captain McConner in 1877, Captain Clarke in 1888, Captain Taylor in 1922
Disposition:
1930, 7 November; The Baltimore Sun reported that Captain George Curlett, who has had the former passenger steamer B. S. Ford converted into a freighter, made his first trip to Harve de Grace to load stone for delivery to the State Road Commission. The vessel has been refitted with oil engines. Converted into a barge in 1936. Sank in 1960.
