"A River's Ghosts": A look at Connecticut's forgotten steamboat era

Journalist Erik Hesselberg has covered Connecticut’s waterways for decades. This hour, we preview his new book about the vibrant history of steamboats in our state, taking a trip on Night Boat to New York. "For more than a century, overnight and day-excursion steamers had plied the route between Hartford and New York," writes Hesselberg, "carrying passengers, mail, and goods on regularly-scheduled runs. More than just transportation, a trip on a river steamer was an adventure in itself." Hesselberg explains that through much of the 1800s, the steamboat was a social phenomenon at the center of a recreational revolution, drawing wide swaths of the public to commune with nature and, eventually he says, to the seashore. GUESTS: Erik Hesselberg: Journalist; Author, Night Boat to New York; Editor, Voices on the River Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.