The tugboat, Startle

The Startle, a wooden, steam-driven tugboat

This is the most often-seen working tugboat in the Chesapeake City area of the C&D canal in the late 1800s and first half of the 1900s. You can tell it’s the Startle by the small horse statue at the cabin’s top. The Startle was one of five wooden, steam tugboats that serviced the canal. The other four were the Wister, the Cecil, the Ash, and the Roman. Pictures of all of these were given to me by Morrison Watson. To the left of this photo you can see where Joseph Schaefer’s ship’s chandlery was located. Now (2014) it’s the location of Schaefer’s Restaurant. Notice that the tug is pulling one of the wheat boats west through the lock into Back Creek. The large building in the distance is the Masonic Hall. The small building next to it is Groom’s Steele’s grain office. These buildings were located on the Causeway, a popular shopping area across the waterway from what is now Pell Gardens.