Wolfeboro Historical Society Digital Archive Photograph Archive Boating Mount Washington and Lady of the Lake

The FIRST MOUNT WASHINGTON was built 1872 in East Boston for the Boston & Maine RR. This mammoth side paddlewheeler held 1200 passengers, traveled defined routes, replacing earlier vessels, & became a popular sight on the lake. At Wolfeboro, its wharf was only a few steps from the Wharf Building & RR Station, making an easy transfer. The RR helped turn Wolfeboro into a major tourist & business center. As RR business declined, the Mount was sold to private owners & tourist travel picked up the slack from RR business loss. On Dec. 22, 1939, embers from a stove destroyed the Weirs RR Station, the Mount (moored nearby), & a seaplane.

The SECOND MOUNT WASHINGTON began as the Chateaugay, a sidewheel steamship built in New Jersey in 1880, shipped by rail in sections, then assembled & launched in Lake Champlain. After many years of use, the ship was reduced in size, converted to a car ferry until 1936, when the engines were removed & it became the berthed clubhouse for the Burlington, Vermont, Yacht Club. In 1940, it was cut into 20 sections, shipped by rail to Lakeport, reassembled, towed to Wolfeboro where 2 used engines were installed, & named Mount Washington. Although shortly launched, there were engineering & financial issues, then the engines were removed to use in World War II. In 1946, 2 diesel engines were installed. Regular service began c. 1948. As population grew, modifications were made: in 1976, improvements included expansion of covered decks; in the late 1980's, the ship was cut in half, a 24 foot center section was added. The Mount now is 230 feet long with a capacity of 1250 people. Its popularity continues strong today.

The LADY OF THE LAKE was a large 400 passenger steamer built to serve passengers of the Concord & Montreal RR in 1848, when the tracks reached the west side of the lake. Following a regular schedule, the boat docked overnight in Wolfeboro, at the "Lady Wharf", behind where the Avery Block is today. It caught fire at the Wolfeboro dock on Nov. 13, 1867, & burned to the waterline. Rebuilt about 1880, service was resumed. Retired in Sept. 1893, the engines were removed, the hull was used as a bunkhouse for workmen building Kimball's Castle, a medieval-style stone mansion near Gilford, & then the ship was scuttled in 45 feet of water near Locke's Island.

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