Every Monday we share a vintage image on the Essex on Lake Champlain Facebook page and invite our viewers to play some Vintage Essex Trivia.

We shared this old postcard on the blog last week that features the Windsor ferry. It dates to the early 1900’s.

I had assumed this was an old ferry that traveled across Lake Champlain at our crossing at some point in the past. However there was one thing we did not notice about it that proved that wrong, but one viewer did see it:

Christine Herrmann: It appears this ferry actually operated out of Charlotte, NY, which is on the Genesee River and is now an area of Rochester.

That’s right — this ferry was not operating between Charlotte, VT and Essex, NY but in a completely different Charlotte. A quick look at the caption may have seemed like it implied Charlotte to NY but it really states: “Charlotte, NY.” Thanks for the catch, Christine!

In any case, this was still a unique old postcard and I’m sure ferries like it traveled Lake Champlain in the past — did you ever see one or know of one?

Do you know what type of ferry the Windsor was? I don’t see any smokestacks, so I don’t believe it was steam-powered. Perhaps it was an old horse-powered one? The shape is similar to other photos of that type I’ve seen, although usually those are more open on top for the horses. Or perhaps it’s an early fuel/gas-powered ferry? What do you think?

Share Your Essex Artifacts

If you want to share your old photos of Essex (or brochures; postcards; menus; tickets; any artifact) on the blog please email us at editor [AT] essexonlakechamplain [DOT] com.

Related articles

• Vintage Photo: Cannon Point Bay (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
• Frozen Lake Photos of Essex (rosslynredux.com)