Bay State Steamboat Company stock certificate 1863 (Massachusetts)  

Amazing New England steamship history. Plain certificate with no engravings. Certificate was for used (in print) for "organizing a Company to establish and run a line of Steamboats and other Vessels between New York, Newport, and Fall River"  Unissued and not cancelled. Dated 1863 in the certificate print. Measures approximately 10 x 8 inches.

The Bay State Steamboat Company was chartered in 1846 and launched regular passenger service in 1847. Founded by Richard Borden, it ran luxury steamboats between New York City and Fall River, Massachusetts, connecting travelers to a railway line onward to Boston. This enterprise established the famous Fall River Line.

Bay State sold its boats to a new company in 1863, the Boston, Newport & New York Steamboat Company, which moved its terminal to Newport, R.I.

By 1869, the company had five boats, the Bay State, Empire State, Metropolis, Newport, and Old Colony. These steamers were all sold in turn to a competitor, the Narragansett Steamship Company, in 1869. The line was then acquired by the Old Colony Steamboat Company in 1874, and then New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company in 1894.

The Fall River Line became a division of the pany in 1906. Steamship service on this line ended in 1937.

Founding:
Chartered in 1846 by industrialist Richard Borden and family members.

Route:
Connected Manhattan's Hudson River docks via Long Island Sound and Narragansett Bay to Fall River, linking with trains to Boston.

Success:
Grew quickly as a top travel route between New York and Boston.

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