Many steamboats toured the lake in the age before the automobile, the last half of the 1800’s.
The Mountain Maid, a 105 foot wooden paddlewheel steamer, was launched in 1849 from Georgeville, Quebec. It plied the waters of the lake until 1892.
The Lady of the Lake made her first voyage in 1867. This 150 foot paddle wheel steamer could carry as many as 500 passengers. It made two trips a day from Newport to Magog at the Canadian end of the lake. There were moonlight excursions too. The steamer was docked at Steamboat Wharf near the Memphremagog Hotel and the Newport Railroad Station in Railroad Square where our current Pomerleau Park now sits.
In 1917, after its last voyage, the Lady of the Lake was towed from the wharf. She lives on in the City Seal and in signs and flags around the city.
The Anthemis, “Goddess of Steam” was a 100 foot long steamer capable of carrying 250 people. It was our last burning steamer on the lake. It operated from 1909 to 1947.
