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Mohican II. The original Mohican (1894-1907) was a 93-foot wooden hull vessel. In 1907, the Steamboat Company determined to replace her with a steel-hulled vessel. A fine naval architect, J.W. Millard of New York City, was contracted to design the new vessel. The Fletcher Company was contracted for the hull and engines. The Fletcher people sub-let the contract for the hull to the T.S. Marvel Ship Building Company of Newburgh, NY. The Hull plates were formed in Newburgh, and then shipped by railroad to Ticonderoga, where they were riveted together at the company's shipyard at Baldwin.
On December 14, 1907, the new hull was launched at Baldwin. The ship was christened Mohican, after her predecessor, beginning the custom of reusing names of former lake boats which survived until the construction of the Lac du Saint Sacrement.
The Mohican's two propellers were driven by Fletcher
steam engines, the steam being generated by the burning of two tons of coal each day. She proceeded under steam power through the World War II years, at which time she was the only passenger
vessel plying the lake. When Wilbur Dow purchased the Steamboat Company in November of 1945, he determined that diesel would be a more efficient means of propulsion and that the conversion to diesel engines would free large areas on the Mohican's second deck for passenger usage. The conversion was completed in 1946.
The Mohican's second major renovation was accomplished in the winter of 1966-1967 when, at the urging of the New York State public vessel inspectors, the vessel's wood and canvas superstructure was replaced by steel. Great care was taken during this process to maintain as closely as possible the vessel's original lines.
In May of 2008, the Mohican will begin her
100th year of operations on Lake George!!
The Steamboat Company is now in the application process to make the Mohican the third active passenger vessel to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Continuing this year, the Mohican will take a
10:30 AM Island Exploration/Paradise Bay trip on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays,
and Mondays. Tuesdays through Thursdays at 9 a.m., the Mohican sails her fully narrated "Discovery Cruise," the only complete tour of Lake George. Each afternoon, she sails her popular cruise through the "Narrows" of the Lake to Paradise Bay.
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