Old Dominion Steamship Company
{{Short description|Major Passengers and Shipping Company}}
{{Not to be confused with|Dominion Line}}
{{Infobox company
| name =
| image = 01479u Old Dominion Steamship Company.tif
| image_caption = Old Dominion Steamship Company ship list from the 1880s
| type =
| foundation = {{start date|1867}} in Norfolk, Virginia, United States
| fate = Sold to Eastern Steamship Lines
| founder = Isaac Bell
| defunct = 1920s
| area_served = East Coast of the United States
| industry = Shipping, Passenger
| products =
| revenue =
| key_people =
| operating_income =
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| homepage =
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Old Dominion Steamship Company, also referred to as the Old Dominion Line, was a major cargo and passenger shipping company founded in 1867{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G1kTshx7YIAC&dq=%22Old+Dominion+Steamship+Company%22&pg=RA6-PA23 |title=Supreme Court |date=1872 |language=en}} in Norfolk, Virginia.Colton, T. (2 May 2014). "Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News VA". Shipbuilding History. T. Colton. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.{{Cite web |title=Old Dominion Steamship Company |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2004666887/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sMYwjgEACAAJ |title=Old Dominion Line |date=2015 |publisher=Creative Media Partners, LLC |isbn=978-1-296-84019-8 |language=en}}
History
File:Old Dominion SS ad NY 1898.png, 1898]]
Established in 1867, the founder and first President of the Old Dominion Steamship Company was Isaac Bell (1814–1897), and its first Vice President was George W. Elder.{{Cite web |title=Old Dominion Line Steamer Isaac Bell off Sandy Hook with Pilot Schooner No. 16, Christian Bergh, in the Distance |url=https://barryart.emuseum.com/objects/52/old-dominion-line-steamer-isaac-bell-off-sandy-hook-with-pil |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=barryart.emuseum.com |language=en}}{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMEEtAEACAAJ |title=Old Dominion Line: Along the Historic James River (Classic Reprint) |date=2017-11-27 |publisher=Fb&c Limited |isbn=978-0-331-78380-3 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Preble |first=George Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRLtFltC_AIC&dq=%22Old+Dominion+Steamship+Company%22&pg=PA377 |title=A Chronological History of the Origin and Development of Steam Navigation |date=1895 |publisher=L. R. Hamersly & Company |language=en}} Former Attorney General of Delaware Jacob Moore served for a period as the company's legal counsel."JACOB MOORE: Sudden Death of One of the Leading Lawyers of the State", The Wilmington Morning News (December 15, 1886), p. 3. Subsequent presidents of the company included H.B. Walker and W.L. Woodrow.{{Cite news |title=FINANCIAL NOTES. |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1918/09/25/106216573.html?pageNumber=16 |access-date=2023-10-04}}
The company's "Main Line Division" offered an overnight transportation service between New York and Norfolk could make {{convert|16|kn|km/h}}.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X3-0HAAACAAJ |title=The Old Dominion Steamship Company's Fleet of Iron Steamships |date= |publisher=Old Dominion Steamship Company |language=en}} That service was between New York pier 26, North River, and Norfolk connecting with the line's "Virginia Division" steamers, including Old Dominion's "Night Line Steamers" Berkley and Brandon serving Richmond with overnight service to Norfolk.{{Cite web |title=Steamboats {{!}} NCpedia |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/steamboats |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=www.ncpedia.org}}
In the 1880s, the longshoremen employed by the company began a widely publicized strike, seeking an increase in wages and overtime pay.{{Cite news |title=TimesMachine: Wednesday January 12, 1887 - NYTimes.com |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1887/01/12/issue.html |access-date=2023-10-04}}{{Cite news |title=THE STEAMSHIP BOYCOTT. |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1887/01/12/104003639.html?pageNumber=4 |access-date=2023-10-04}} Charles H. Kennerly served as the port engineer for the company for several years.{{Cite news |title=Charles H. Kennerly, 88, Directed U.S. Ship Agency |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1973/04/09/99141186.html?pageNumber=40 |access-date=2023-10-04}} In the early 1920s, the Old Dominion Steamship Company became a subsidiary of Eastern Steamship Lines.{{Cite book |last=Crockett, L. Dunbaugh |first=David, Edwin |title=Eastern Steamship |publisher=Steamship Historical Society of America |year=1997 |isbn=0-913423-11-4 |location=Providence, RI}}{{Cite news |title=OLD DOMINION FINANCING.; Eastern Steamship Lines Offer Stock Exchange Plan. |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1923/05/19/105863556.html?pageNumber=18 |access-date=2023-10-04}}
Ships
Ships owned by the Old Dominion Steamship Company included:
- SS Berkeley
- SS Brandon{{Cite web |title=Steamer "Brandon," ca.1925 |url=https://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/2394/page/3856/detail/80427/display |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Maine Memory Network |language=en}}
- SS Breakwater
- SS George Washington{{Cite web |title=Old Dominion Line - Old Dominion Steamship Co. |url=https://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/od.htm |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=www.timetableimages.com}}{{Cite news |title=NAME OLD DOMINION LINER.; Kin of First President at the George Washington's Launching. |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1924/08/21/301987282.html?pageNumber=10 |access-date=2023-10-04}}
- SS George W. Elder
- Tugboat Germania
- SS Guyandotte
- SS Hamilton, later the USS Saranac (1899) during World War IBelknap, Reginald Rowan The Yankee mining squadron; or, Laying the North Sea mining barrage (1920) United States Naval Institute pp.46-47,74&110
- SS Isaac Bell{{Cite news |date=1880-10-03 |title=A Steamer on Fire.; The Isaac Bell, of the Old Dominion Line, Burned -- No Lives Lost. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1880/10/03/archives/a-steamer-on-fire-the-isaac-bell-of-the-old-dominion-line-burnedno.html |access-date=2023-10-04 |issn=0362-4331}}
- SS Jamestown
- SS Jefferson, later the USS Quinnebaug (SP-1687) during World War I{{cite web |last=Colton |first=T. |date=October 21, 2013 |title=The Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding & Engine Works, Chester PA |url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/merchant.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023050721/http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/merchant.htm |archive-date=23 October 2014 |access-date=11 October 2014}}
- SS Madison
- SS Manhattan{{cite web |last=Colton |first=T. |date=October 21, 2013 |title=The Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding & Engine Works, Chester PA |url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/merchant.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023050721/http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/merchant.htm |archive-date=23 October 2014 |access-date=10 October 2014 |publisher=ShipbuildingHistory}}
- SS Manteo{{Cite web |title=Steamer, Manteo, built for Old Dominion Steamship Co. {{!}} Hagley Digital Archives |url=https://digital.hagley.org/72350_0519 |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=digital.hagley.org}}
- SS Mobjack
- SS Monroe
- SS Ocracoke
- SS Old Dominion
- SS Pocahontas
- SS Princes Anne
- SS Richmond
- SS Roanoke
- SS Robert E. Lee
- SS R L Meyers
- SS Yorktown, later the USS Resolute during the Spanish–American War"Resolute II (Iron Passenger Liner)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command. 2005. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
In popular culture
An 1876 painting by Antonio Jacobsen titled, Old Dominion Line Steamer Isaac Bell off Sandy Hook, is on display at the Barry Art Museum at Old Dominion University.
References
{{reflist}}{{ODS_Co_Steamships}}{{Authority control}}
Category:Defunct shipping companies of the United States
Category:1867 establishments in Virginia