Steamboat Rhode Island under construction at Palmer yard, Noank

Title supplied by cataloger. Rhode Island, built 1882 by Robert Palmer & Sons of Noank and retired in 1919, was one of a fleet of steamers owned by companies whose service connected New York and Providence and points beyond. The third steamer of that name to ply Long Island in Sound service, Rhode Island began her career in the service of the Providence and Stonington Line, acquired by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in 1892. The Billow was a work and freight boat owned by the Palmers. T.A. Scott, Jr. was built by Robert Palmer & Sons in 1882 as a screw steam tugboat. The Palmer family's shipbuilding and repair facility, in operation from the mid-19th century until 1914, was one of the most prominent on the east coast. It was incorporated under several names, including R. & J. Palmer, Robert Palmer & Sons, and Robert Palmer & Son Shipbuilding and Marine Railway, and experienced substantial growth in the second half of the 19th century, specializing in the production of utilitarian barges and floats. Taken by Everett A. Scholfield, a professional photographer who worked primarily in Mystic and New London from 1865-1913.