Sailing vessel depicted on a “Plan of the City of New-Brunswick” 1829. Courtesy of the Library of Congress 

How important is Middlesex County’s Maritime History?

Middlesex County was incorporated in 1683 and is among the oldest counties in the State of New Jersey. The waterways of the Raritan River, Raritan Bay, Arthur Kill, the South River, Woodbridge Creek, and the Rahway River were important to the development of the County. These watercourses were utilized by indigenous people before the arrival of colonists. Instead of overland routes, the early settlers would favor water travel to move goods in great volume to markets in New York City, Philadelphia, and other coastal ports. The direct access to water was an important aspect in development of the County during the colonial period.

Various vessel types could be found in Middlesex County waterways, from large ocean-going ships to coastal vessels to smaller local watercraft. Some of the more common types of sailing vessels included coastal sloops with a single mast as well as larger two-masted schooners.

Large square-rigged vessels were also popular for transatlantic trade and longer voyages. The example shown below is receiving repairs at the Perth Amboy Dry Dock Company. 

Some of the largest sailing vessels ever built could also be found in Raritan Bay and the Arthur Kill. New England Coal Schooners, built in Maine, had four, five, and upwards of six masts. They were used to transport coal at three Middlesex County facilities in Port Reading, Perth Amboy, and South Amboy. The “Wyoming,” a 450-foot six masted Maine coal schooner, was the largest wooden vessel constructed. It was in Perth Amboy in 1922 ― two years before it was lost off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts with its entire crew of 14.

Steam gradually replaced sail in the Raritan Valley. Some of the earliest steamboats plied the waters of Middlesex County. New Brunswick had steamboat service between New York as early as 1806. Steamboat service also developed in South Amboy, where connections could be made with the Camden and Amboy Railroad and travel by train south to Philadelphia. Steamboat landings could also be found along the South River.  

Barges were among the most common vessel type found in Middlesex County’s waterways. They came in a variety of different types depending on use. Canal barges were often slim and rounded in the front to assist with travel through congested areas of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. Square open barges transported coal, clay, sand, and other bulk products. Covered barges provided protection for products that needed to be secured. One of the last surviving wooden covered barges from the local waterways is the Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge 79. Built in Perth Amboy in 1914, the barge is today owned by the Waterfront Museum in Brooklyn.

More information on it can be found here.

Smaller vessels were also common and one of the most ubiquitous small vessel types from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s was the catboat. Catboats had a mast set near the bow, with a single large sail. They had a variety of uses, from fishing, clamming, and oystering to transportation, racing, and recreation. They were immortalized in Winslow Homer’s painting “Breezing Up” of a Gloucester, Massachusetts catboat, painted circa 1875. Although catboats are often associated with the New England states, they seem to have developed in the mid-1800s in the waterways of New York Harbor, New Jersey, and the Great South Bay of Long Island.

This image in our online collection shows small vessels on Smith’s Creek in Sewaren. The sailboat in the foreground is a catboat.

Middlesex County has in its collection the catboat “Kitty,” one of the oldest catboats in New Jersey. Kitty was built in 1875 in Perth Amboy and is 28 feet long by 12 feet wide. The wooden vessel most likely spent its early years in Raritan Bay. Kitty was later owned by Judge Larrabee of Toms River who sailed on Barnegat Bay. The photograph below shows Kitty during the 1920s. 

John H. Gregory was born in 1862 in Sag Harbor, Long Island. When he was sixteen years old, he moved to Red Bank, New Jersey and began his interest in the maritime wrecking trade. In 1888, he moved to Perth Amboy and opened a business at the head of Brighton Avenue dismantling ships. With a growing collection of decrepit ships at his waterfront property, his yard quickly became known as Gregory’s Graveyard.

The Library of Congress has several images of Gregory’s yard that can see at the following links:

https://www.loc.gov/item/2016807523/
https://www.loc.gov/item/2016807525/
https://www.loc.gov/item/2016807524/

It should be noted that these images are mislabeled as a boat graveyard in New York City. Additional research by County staff has shown that these are in fact Gregory’s yard in Perth Amboy and the vessels where names can be seen have all been documented as being at Gregory’s yard.

The photograph above is from the Library of Congress Collection. The large steamer in the back left is the steamboat, Drew. It was built in 1866 for the Peoples Line and ran the New York to Albany route on the Hudson River. The steamer was purchased by Gregory in 1904 and dismantled at his Perth Amboy yard. The launch seen in the right foreground is the “Ki Ki.” This motor-powered boat was documented in Perth Amboy. Its striped canvas covering protected the engine.

The images from the Library of Congress can be downloaded in high resolution revealing great details of Gregory’s yard. The image above is a detail showing two children sitting on dismantled steamboat paddle wheel frames.

One of the most famous vessels Gregory acquired was the steamboat General Slocum. In 1904, the General Slocum caught fire in the East River killing 1,021 of the 1,342 people on board. Gregory purchased the burnt hulk and later sold it to a Philadelphia firm which converted it into a barge and renamed it the Maryland. Several photographs of the Slocum in Perth Amboy are on the Middlesex County History Portal and can be seen here.

 \The City of Perth Amboy began negotiations for the purchase of Gregory’s yard in 1914 and the property was eventually cleaned up for waterfront development.   

In 2020, Middlesex County Division of History and Historic Preservation began to explore the County’s maritime history and surviving resources. It was during this period that the catboat “Kitty,” one of the oldest catboats in New Jersey, was found and acquired. Additional artifacts including historic documents dating back to the 1700s were also added to the collection and can be seen in our online history hub.

A comprehensive look at maritime resources in the navigable waterways of the County was carried out by Scott Weiczorek, a principal investigator with E2 Project Management. County staff did additional research and coordinated in-depth surveys of several sites.

In 2021, a drone survey was conducted on seven vessels in Raritan Bay that are visible at low tide. These vessels were given ID numbers 93, 94, 95, 96, 116, 145, and 146.