A Magnificent Time On Beautiful Water
Extending 200 miles from Baltimore, Maryland, to Norfolk, Virginia, Chesapeake Bay is an American historical and environmental treasure. For 150 years, between 1813 and 1962, steamboats plied the waters of the Bay and its many river tributaries, creating what author Chris Dickon describes as a "magnificent time on beautiful water". Dickon tells the history of the ships in his photographic history "Chesapeake Bay Steamers" (2006) published as part of the "Images of America" series of local American histories. Dickon, a radio and television producer as well as a writer, has written several books on lesser-known aspects of American history, including three books for "Images of America." Dickon uses photographs from the Library of Congress and from ten local museums and libraries in this history.
The book includes a great deal of factual information, but the overwhelming impression it conveys is delight in its subject-- the Bay and the steamers. The book is full of rare photographs from the 1850s through the 1960s showing many steamships, interior and exterior, (the ships pictured are listed at the end), the Bay and its rivers, the cities and towns along the way, wharves, harbors, schedules, promotional material, passengers, crew, railroads and bridges, and much more. It is a photographic memorial of steamers on the Bay over time.
Dickon offers maritime portraits of old Baltimore, Norfolk, Hampton, Washington, D.C. and many other places. He shows how steamship passenger travel began in the early 19th Century, paused briefly during the Civil War, and then covered virtually every city and town along the Eastern Shore by the end of the 19 Century. In the 20th Century, the focus of steamers shifted gradually from necessary transportation to pleasure cruises. Dickon shows how steamers began to serve and to encourage the growth of beaches and amusement parks along the Bay. In WW I and even more so in WW II, the United States requisitioned many of the steamers for military use. After WW II, the steamers never recovered, with competition from cars and trucks and the construction of bridges and tunnels across the bay. The concluding photographs of the book show a forlorn ship, the "City of Norfolk" sailing on the final voyage of the Chesapeake Bay steamers on April 13, 1962.
The book covers many historical events and many beloved steamers. It includes several photographs of the most famous of the steamers the "Emma Giles" which cruised the waters for nearly 50 years beginning in 1887. The "President Warfield" first saw service in 1928 before being pressed into action for WW II. It returned to the Bay before crossing the ocean again and becoming the ship "Exodus" which attempted in 1947 to carry war survivors to Palestine. Other historical events covered in the book include the "International Naval Review" held at Hampton, Virginia in 1893 and featuring battleships from all over the world. In 1907 and 1909, the "Great White Fleet" of the United States, 16 new battleships painted white and assembled by President Theodore Roosevelt, sailed from Hampton for a round-the-world cruise and returned to Hampton in 1909.
While Chesapeake Bay receives a great deal of attention, there are few books that offer a history of the steamers. Dickon's book, with its photographs and informative text will preserve the history and memory of the Bay Steamers for future readers. The book will be of particular appeal to readers with an interest in maritime history and photographs.
