One if by land, two if by sea

We came upon this sketch of the waters off the Greenport Pier, fanciful as it may seem to most, in a collection of photos found at Floyd Library.  We get spoiled a bit with our "mind's eye" view of seaports, all bustling with whaling ships and big sailing vessels from Europe.  The truth in the matter is far more practical and in that light, much more personal.

These aren't whaling vessels; not by a long shot.  The are, instead, schooners (some topsail schooners) and were the modern equal to short haul freight trucks. This type of vessel was hugely popular because they were fast and did well with the wind.  There are a lot of folks locally who can give chapter and verse on the intricacies of schooner construction and handling prowess so we will leave that to more experienced hands.  What we do note is that the waters off Greenport Pier were deep and protected and that, after 1844 (approaching the hay day of schooner popularity and construction), could dock a short distance from the mainline of the railroad that led directly to the  Vanderbuilt Yards in Brooklyn and then by ferry to New York City.  This transportation "fact" saved sailing time and made Greenport a great place for off-loading cargo.  If you think about it the Long Island Railroad runs to the shoreline ending at a dock that can accommodate these vessels only here in Greenport.  This was a natural connection.

We  think about this scene from nearly a couple centuries back. Harbor full of craft of all sorts. Schooners arriving constantly from Connecticut and points east - even Bermuda or the continent.  A harbor that represented the commercial world, offloading items great and small, with a swift transfer a short distance west to a set of iron rails that moved a ship full of stuff to distant New York in the course of a morning and brought things unimaginable from the factories and shops 100 miles to the west, all to find their places in this busy harbor for return trips to who knows where.

(by the way, many thanks for the correction ... a well versed reader commented below that the Atlantic end of the line was really the Vanderbilt railyards. I regret the error but we never regret the correction and are thankful for it.)