Steamer "Fontana" Taking on Coal at Sodus Point, 1955


 

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Last of the Lake Schooners

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They Came into Port Together It was late in the afternoon on a summer day on Aug. 26, 1925. Not a cloud was in the sky. Suddenly on the horizon there appeared three lake schooners, under full sail, headed for Oswego harbor. At first some observers thought they were seeing an apparition or a mirage. But when it was discovered it was real, people thronged to the lower bridge to view a sight that hadn't been seen in decades. They came in on the wings of a northeast breeze from across Lake Ontario. Full of years, the schooner "Lyman M. Davis" proudly sailed into Oswego harbor right well into the 20th century. View is looking east with Fort Ontario on the bluff overlooking the harbor.                 Sailing Aboard the Lyman M. Davis                      By Susan Peterson Gately     Great Sodus Bay on Lake Ontario has seen its share of maritime activity. Like Oswego, it was a coal port during the last days of working sail. Unlike Oswego it continued to export
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Rum running on Lake Ontario

  When rum running moved to Lake Ontario By Richard Palmer One of the most interesting periods of Great Lakes maritime history was the Prohibition era between 1920 and 1933. This was a nationwide ban on the sale, production, importation and transportation of alcoholic beverages under the 18th Amendment known as the Volstead Act. This led to the formation of criminal syndicates that, among other activities, smuggled alcoholic beverages in from Canada. It did not work well and led to some of the worst corruption in American history.  It took years to bring the problems associated with bootlegging and rum running that ran rampant on the Great Lakes under control. In August, 1929, residents of Oswego as well as those at all ports at the northern end of Lake Ontario learned through the newspapers that rum running syndicates in Detroit were planning to transfer their operations to Kingston, 60 miles directly across Lake Ontario.The reason for their decision is said to have been due to the bl
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When Oswego Was a Major Great Lakes Port

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               Oswego Harbor, November 11, 1869. Photo by J. Austen. Oswego Advertiser and Times, November 19, 1869    OSWEGO HARBOR - John Austen photographed the harbor on November 11th when the river was spanned by shipping below the bridge and lower the harbor was filled with craft of kinds. The view is taken from an eminence on Oneida street, and presents a portion of the trestle-work of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western in the foreground, with a full view of the east side mills and elevators, with Lake Ontario in the distance.    The harbor and river present  complete forests of masts and spars, the whole thing showing off to the best possible advantage. The time very rarely occurs when so much of the shipping and business of this port can be taken at one view. Austen seized upon the opportunity, and has done his work well.    We have frequently been struck with the fact that outside of those having business connections with Oswego, so little is known of the magnitude of its
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