Steamer Bay State being equipped with engines and balers at Portland Iron Works in 1895.

The side-wheeler was launched from Bath in 1894 and was first used as a passenger-freighter. When the steamship Portland was lost in 1898, the Bay State, which was in Boston, housed relatives waiting for news of Portland's passengers.

The Bay State replaced the Portland after this.

In September, 1916, she crashed in thick fog near Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth.