DCHP-1 Online

Durham boat † [from a similar craft designed about 1750 by Robert Durham of Pennsylvania] Hist.

• n. a river-boat having a false keel and shallow draught, somewhat less than 100 feet in length and propelled by sails or poles, much used in the early 19th century on the St. Lawrence and its tributaries for freight and passengers.

  • 1812  They had two large Durham Boats filled with men, one of them with a six-pounder on board, and two smaller Boats.
  • 1846  . . . the Durham boat, a long decked barge, square ahead, and square astern, has now vanished. . . . It was neither invented by nor named after Lord Durham. . . .
  • 1900  In 1835, there were 800 Durham boats and 1500 batteaux engaged in the navigation of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence river.