Steamer "Alida", 1847 - 1880

 

The "Alida," a dayboat for Hudson River trade with a length of 265 feet, started making regular journeys between New York and Albany on April 16, 1847.She enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a passenger carrier, becoming a darling of the general public.

The "Alida" could travel at a pace of nearly 20 miles per hour, and on May 6, 1848, she achieved her greatest time between the two ends of her usual route when she completed the voyage with seven landings in eight hours and 18 minutes.
She continued in service for a few more years on the Albany route before being put on a regular route from Rondout to New York, performing a round-trip every day.She eventually took over the full run from Albany to New York.

Alfred Van Santvoord bought the "Alida" in November 1855, and the following year he ran her the entire length of the river with the steamboat "Armenia" as a companion.Commodore Van Santvoord, the new owner, was previously uninterested in the passenger carrying line but was well known for his work in river freight and towing. His first foray into this area of river navigation was with the "Alida." Later, in 1860, he launched the "Daniel Drew," after which he started using the "Alida" to transport passengers daily between Poughkeepsie and New York.

The Commodore must have thought his foray into the passenger shipping business to be quite successful because in 1863, he joined forces with other rivermen, added the "Armenia" to his fleet of three vessels (the "Alida," "Daniel Drew," and the "Armenia"), and laid the groundwork for the Albany Dayline, which is now known as the Hudson River Dayline.

For the Cornell line, the "Alida" only made one voyage, in December 1875.
After the passenger vessel "Sunnyside" capsized in West Park on the first of that month, it was decided to build a new vessel using the "Alidaengine. "'s

The "Alida" was dragged back to Port Ewen by the "Norwich" after being towed to New York, but her engine was discovered to be inadequate for the designed boat. She remained there until the summer of 1880, when Daniel Bigler purchased her and had her broken up off Port Ewen. 

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