Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Industry & Commerce, Site, Transportation

Location

7960 County Road 153, Interlaken, NY 14847, USA

Lat/Long

42.6393759, -76.6924064

Grant Recipient

Ovid Historical Society

For many years, Captain James Voorhees Quick (1855-1946) crossed Cayuga Lake from Kidders in Seneca County, New York to King Ferry in Cayuga County, New York, bringing passengers and mail across the lake. In 1884, Captain Quick commissioned the 66 foot Busy Bee, a side-wheel ferry boat that used both sails and paddle wheels to propel through the water. The paddle wheels were first powered by a horse on a treadmill on board the boat, which was later replaced with a steam engine. The boat’s sails were retained even after the addition of the steam engine.

Toward the end of the boat’s career, an advertisement listing the fares for a ride on the Busy Bee ran in the August 5, 1910 edition of the Genoa Tribune. At that time, passengers could travel across Cayuga Lake on the Busy Bee for twenty-five cents, a single horse vehicle for seventy-five cents, and a double horse vehicle for one dollar. A sign of the times, the advertisement also included that the Busy Bee could take an automobile across the lake for one dollar and fifty cents.

With the advent of the automobile and improved means of transportation around Cayuga Lake, the Busy Bee was retired in 1911. Shortly after this, the boat was sunk near the landing in Kidders. On June 28, 1942, the Ithaca Journal ran an article in which Captain Quick, then 87 years old, recalled his Busy Bee ferry boat. In the article, it was estimated that he crossed Cayuga Lake with his ferry more than 40,000 times.