I support the Canal Society of New York because I enjoy what the organization does. Here’s a statement CSNY’s mission: “to protect New York’s rich canal heritage for the future through research, preservation, education, and advocacy, connecting enthusiasts to preserve historic sites [and artifacts], promote canal development, and share the history and folklore of the state’s unique waterways. They do this by archiving materials, hosting field trips and symposia, restoring structures, and interpreting sites like the Old Erie Canal Heritage Park.”

My enjoyment comes in part from sifting through the archives, such as this set of images that appear to be taken on a Dayliner trip from NYC to Albany in the late 1950s.  One photo of the dozen here leads me to put this date on this set. I’ll number the photos for easier reference. Feel free to disagree or even agree with my statements.

1. That’s Manhattan. Note the Empire State Building standing alone, the Chrysler Building off to its right. Anyone guess the ferry left of center or the three-master to the right?

2. Two Moran tugboats and a freighter ply the river. In the distance center, might that be USL‘s SS United States?

3. Yonkers? The two stacks in the distance to the left look like Glenwood Generating Station. And the officer in the white hat on the bridge wing? I’d say Captain Frank Briggs.

4. I wish I knew the story of the ship. Hastings-on-Hudson?

5. The wide waters here might be the Hudson north of the TZ Bridge. Might there be more than a dozen barges in that tow? Tugboats names?

6. In the Tappan Zee a reserve fleet remained in midcentury. Here’s more on these ships.

7. That’s a West Point building on shore, and the tanker looks to be Tydol Flying A, which became Providence Getty at some point in 1958. Scroll through this site and an almost identical image on the Hudson can be found, likely taken by someone also on the excursion up the river.

8. Ferry Dutchess ran until November 1963. One of the ferries that ran between Newburgh and Beacon is disintegrating in the Arthur Kill.

9. I can place the location, but this image is important to identify our conveyance, Peter Stuyvesant. Here’s more on the Day Line context before and after 1948.

10. The tugboat looks like John E. Matton, but which one: 1939, 1945, or 1957? Where is that tank farm?

11. Unmistakeable . . . we’re approaching Albany.

12. I’ve scanned that parking lot, and the newest car I see there is a 1958 Chevrolet.

Who would have imagined a set of photos like this in the CSNY archive, but waterways are just that; navigation continues west from and east from NYS canals.

If you–as I do–enjoy images like these, you might want to support CSNY also. Click here for information.