Book Club Discussion with Stuart Vyse: The Steamboat Hotel

From 1837 to 1900 Stonington, Connecticut was a major transportation hub on the route between New York and Boston. Steamboats leaving Manhattan followed Long Island Sound to Stonington Harbor where passengers boarded trains for the rest of the journey to Providence or Boston.

Stonington’s Steamboat Hotel, built in 1838 near the piers and railroad yard, was home to saloons, restaurants, a pool hall, a cigar shop, a tailor, and a barber shop. Merchants, hotel keepers, and saloon workers passed through the building, each with their own unique story. Many of them were immigrants or first-generation Americans, and they are a window onto a late 19th-century class of merchants and service workers.

Join local author Stuart Vyse for a discussion of his recent foray into local history, The Steamboat Hotel.

Participants should be familiar with book and come prepared with questions or comments. Refreshments will be served. This program is free and open to all. 

Books are available at the Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House in Stonington