Durham Boat

The Durham Boat was a large wooden boat shaped by the Durham Boat Company of Durham, Pennsylvania. They were planned by company owner Robert Durham to navigate the Delaware River and thus transport the products produced by the Durham Forges and Durham Mills to Trenton, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They were flat-bottomed boats with high vertical side which ran parallel to each other up to a point 12 to 14 feet from the boat's ends, where they then pointed. The boats were constructing of 1.25 inch thick planks and measured 60 feet long by 8 feet wide by 42 inches deep. They displace a breeze of 3.5 inches when light and 28 inches when fully loaded. They were intended to be able to carry a maximum load of 17 tons while traveling downstream and two tons while traveling upstream. It took three men to operate the boats. Moving downstream they used 12 foot to 18 foot long "setting poles" mainly for routing and when moving upstream they used these poles to push the boats upriver. The crew walks back and forth on "walking boards" built into the sides of the boats. Some were later fitted for the use of oars; these boats are most famous for their use in Washington's crossing of the Delaware throughout the American Revolution.