Island Home (steamboat) facts for kids
The Island Home was a special kind of boat called a sidewheel steamer. It worked as a ferry, carrying people and goods between the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. This was in the late 1800s.
Island Home from an 1890s souvenir booklet
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Quick facts for kids History |
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 United States |
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| Name | Island Home |
| Operator | Nantucket and Cape Cod Steamboat Company |
| In service | September 1855 |
| Out of service | 1895 or 1896 |
| Fate |
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| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger ferry |
| Tonnage | 536 tons |
| Length | 184 ft (56 m) |
| Beam | 29 ft 8 in (9.04 m) |
| Propulsion | 1 × 120 nhp vertical beam steam engine |
Contents
Building the Island Home
The Island Home was built in 1855 in a place called Greenpoint, New York. Its powerful engine was made at the Morgan Iron Works in New York. An engineer named Leonard Merritt helped make sure the machinery was built correctly.
Serving Nantucket Island
The Island Home first arrived at Nantucket on September 5, 1855. Its first captain was Thomas Brown. This boat was the first one bought by a new company called the Nantucket and Cape Cod Steamboat Co. This company was formed when a new train station wharf was built in Hyannis, Massachusetts.
The Island Home was 184 feet long. That's about the length of six school buses! It was also 29 feet, 8 inches wide and weighed 536 tons. At first, it sailed between Hyannis and Nantucket.
Captain Brown had worked on other island ferries before. After him, Captain Nathan Manter took over. He commanded the Island Home for a very long time – thirty years!
The Island Home sailed the Hyannis-Nantucket route until 1872. That's when a new train line was finished, going to Woods Hole, Massachusetts. After that, the ferry started sailing between Woods Hole and Nantucket.
Serving Martha's Vineyard
In March 1886, the Island Home joined a new company. This company was called the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. It was one of the first four steamers to work for this new company. The other three boats were the River Queen, Martha's Vineyard, and Monohansett.
Later Years and Fate
The New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. sold the Island Home in either 1895 or 1896.
For about six years, the Island Home was used as a work barge. This means it was used to carry heavy loads, not passengers. In 1902, it was damaged by a large piece of ice floating in the water. It then sank off the coast of New Jersey or Rhode Island.
A Name Lives On
Many years later, in 2007, a brand new car ferry started service. This modern boat also carries people and cars between Martha's Vineyard and Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It was named MV Island Home to honor the original 19th-century steamboat.
