Sappho steamboat was built in 1886 for Maine Central Railroad's Bar Harbor ferry service. She was built for transporting the wealthy vacationers to Mount Desert Island. The ship was 275 tons, 140 feet long, 28 foot beam, and 600 horse power.

In 1917 the Blackstone Navigation Company bought the ship, renamed it Pawtucket, and ran it between Pawtucket, RI and New York.

During the war she transported explosives on the Delaware River.

She returned to Rockland, ME in 1924 to be rebuilt, changing her tonnage to 589.

The Colonial Line set her to work on Long Island Sound as a freight service.

She was purchased by a Norfolk freighter on Chesapeake Bay, Dismal Swamp Canal and the North Carolina Sounds. They did some reconstruction and replaced the steam engine with Diesels.

Photo copyright W. H. Ballard