The Island Home was a sidewheel steamer

Paddle steamer

A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

 operating as a ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 serving the islands of Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....

 and Nantucket during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Nantucket Ferry Service

Island Home was built in 1855 in Greenpoint, NY. Its machinery was manufactured at the Morgan Iron Works

Morgan iron works

The Morgan Iron Works was a 19th century manufacturing plant for marine steam engines located in New York City, United States. Originally founded as T. F...

 in New York. Leonard Merritt, superintending engineer of the New Haven Steamboat Company, supervised the machinery construction.

Island Home first arrived at Nantucket on Sept. 5, 1855 under the command of Capt. Thomas Brown. It was the first purchase of the new Nantucket and Cape Cod Steamboat Co., which had been formed from the Nantucket Steamboat Co. earlier that year when the new railroad terminus wharf was built in Hyannis, MA. It was 184 feet long, with a 29'8" beam and weighed 536 tons. It initially sailed the waters between Hyannis and Nantucket. Capt. Brown had previously commanded the island ferry steamers Eagle's Wing and Massachusetts. He was followed by Capt. Nathan Manter (1818–1897), who commanded the Island Home for thirty years.

Island Home is listed in the American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping during 1859-1863 as a 450-ton, single-decked vessel. The 1858 New-York Marine Register lists the Island Home as a 536 ton vessel.

Island Home sailed the Nantucket-Hyannis route until the completion of the Woods Hole branch of the Old Colony Railroad

Old Colony Railroad

The Old Colony Railroad was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island. It operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod...

 in 1872; it subsequently sailed between Woods Hole and Nantucket.

Martha's Vineyard Ferry Service

In March 1886 the Island Home became one of the initial four steamers operating for the newly organized New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. (The other three were River Queen

River Queen (steamboat)

The River Queen was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket during the late 19th century. It is closely associated with President Abraham Lincoln and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.-Construction:...

, Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard (steamboat)

The Martha's Vineyard was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the island of Martha's Vineyard during the second half of the nineteenth century.It was built in 1871 in Brooklyn, NY...

and Monohansett

Monohansett (steamboat)

The Monohansett was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the island of Martha's Vineyard during the end of the nineteenth century. It was named after Monohansett Island, a tiny twelve-acre island off Naushon.-Construction:...

.)

Later Service

Island Home was sold by the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. in 1895 or 1896 (sources vary.)

Records of the Island Home turn up again in the 1897-1900 editions of Record of American and Foreign Shipping as a 184' long, 30-ton vessel. Its owner was listed as Mt. Vernon & Marshall Hall S. B. Co., its homeport as New Bedford

New Bedford

-Places:*New Bedford, Illinois*New Bedford, Massachusetts, the most populous New Bedford**New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park*New Bedford, New Jersey *New Bedford, Ohio*New Bedford, Pennsylvania...

, and its master as Capt. N. H. Manter.

For six years or so, Island Home operated as a work barge

Barge

A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...

 for R.B. Little Co. of Providence. In 1902 it was damaged by an ice floe off New Jersey or Rhode Island (sources vary) and sank.

New Beginnings

In 2007, a new steamship, M/V Island Home, started its service to Martha's Vineyard and Woods Hole. It was named after this 19th-century steamer.