Windham Historical Society presents Steamboats of Sebago - By Michelle Libby

Monday night Windham Historical Society member Dave Tanguay presented a program on steamboats of Sebago featuring 200 slides to more than 60 people at the Windham Veteran’s Center. The two-hour presentation told of the history from the use of canal boats to the first steam run boats to the conversion to gasoline and the demise of that type of transportation because of the automobile. 
 

This time period, from 1791 to 1959 was also the heyday of postcards, so many of the slides were of postcards depicting what the vessels looked like. John Fitch created and patented the first steam driven vessel in 1791. In 1801, Robert Fulton created a steamboat for Napoleon and a steam driven submarine for him as well. 

One of the first boats on Sebago, a converted canal boat, was called the “Monkeydena” captained by Christopher Sampson. 

The steamboats on Sebago Lake were used to transport passengers to various resorts on the Raymond side of Sebago and on to Long Lake in Naples. Smaller boats, like “Lady of the Lake”, were used as sightseeing tours and cost around $.25 per trip. 

In 1869, after 20 years of little activity, Captain Thomas Symonds of Portland knew the railroad was coming to Standish, so he was ready with a steamboat to take passengers to their final destination. “The first few years had very few takers,” Tanguay said. Symonds sold out and the following year business picked up and was very profitable for the new owner. 

The time after the Civil War created “the great age of high living,” Tanguay said. “In 1871 it was the new age of conspicuous consumption.” People were traveling on trains and stagecoaches to get to Standish Landing to continue on to large resorts. There were more people traveling and more leisure time, he said. 

Many of the early boats sailed for a few years. Then during the winter when they were out of the water, they burned.  

The company that ran the steamboats changed hands many times, and often made changes to or built new boats. SD Warren Company bought Sebago Steamship Company and all the water rights on the Presumpscot River. “Warren liked to control things,” Tanguay said. The mill in Westbrook that used to be SD Warren still controls the water levels on the Presumpscot River. 

The “Goodridge” was built by Bath Iron Works in Portland was the biggest ship built. It burned in Oct. 1932. 

By the 1950s only the “Songo” was left. It made stops at Migis Lodge which was founded by the Goodridge family and to Thomas House in South Casco as well as other resorts and landings. 

There were a few gems of trivia and historical facts that made the presentation worthwhile. 

Commodore Stevens would blow a whistle when passing Frye’s Leap and Indians would appear and do a war dance for the captive audience. The actors were boys from the nearby boys’ camp, Tanguay said. 

The different types of bridges that were in place in Naples and just before the locks varied, including the swing bridge that used to be in Naples and is still being used just before the locks in Sebago.

There were also postcards showing the casino in Naples on the causeway that is now Rick’s Café. 

The most interesting part of the program was knowing where the places Tanguay spoke about were, from the Standish landing, where the train tracks still protrude from the tar, to the Songo Locks, where one can spend hours watching the boats on a summer’s day. People in the audience knew the bends in the seven to nine miles long Songo River, which only covers two miles as the crow flies and some were old enough to have ridden on some of the boats.

One man, 94-year-old Arthur Richardson, rode on the Goodridge and was born at Songo Locks. He added relevancy to the presentation, so that the audience knew that it was history, but not ancient history. 

In the 1960s and 1970s, mail and passenger service was still done by water in a converted lobster boat. In the 1960s the Songo River Queen I was put on Long Lake. It was configured many times before it was traded in for the Songo River Queen II that is still on Long Lake.

More information can found on this topic in local books. 

The historical society is also focusing on the 2.53 acres they bought to create a village green. It will take $400,000 to make the dream a reality, but they hope that through programs like this one and through raffles, this year it’s a hooked rug that they are selling tickets for, that they will be able to raise enough money to move all of the scattered historical buildings in Windham to this central location just off Windham Center Road near their current building.

Photo: Presenter Dave Tanguay stands with 94-year-old Arthur Richardson who rode on one of the Sebago steamboats in the 1920s and 1930s.