{"nrhp_refnum":"01001320","name":"URGER (canal tugboat)","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"near eastern terminus of the Erie Division of the New York State Barge Canal.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waterford","county":"Saratoga County","state":"NY","lat":42.79639365600008,"lon":-73.68710130799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Urger is a riveted steel canal tugboat, 73 feet 5 inches long, built in 1901 in Ferrysburg, Michigan, and based at the Barge Canal maintenance facility in Waterford, Saratoga County, New York.","why_significant":"Built as a Great Lakes fish tug and bought by New York State in 1922, she worked for decades moving dredges, derrick boats and scows on the Champlain and eastern Erie canals. The nomination argues she is tied to the development of the state's twentieth-century Barge Canal system (Criterion A). Her alterations from 1922 to 1949, including a diesel conversion, are cited as evidence of changing marine technology (Criterion C).","narrative":"Urger is a steel canal tugboat based at the Barge Canal maintenance facility in Waterford, New York. Built in 1901 at Ferrysburg, Michigan, as the fish tug H. J. Dornbos, she was renamed Urger in 1920 and bought by the New York State Department of Public Works in 1922. For decades she moved dredges, derrick boats, barges and scows along the Champlain Canal and the eastern Erie Canal, and she also broke ice at the start and end of each navigation season. Her hull was doubled with welded plates and her wooden deckhouse replaced with steel in 1938-39. In 1948-49 a surplus Navy Atlas diesel replaced her steam plant, and she received the blue and gold canal livery. She is still a \"bell boat,\" with the engine controlled by signals from the pilot. Now the canal system's ceremonial flagship, she was listed for her link to the Barge Canal and for what her alterations show about marine technology.","period_of_significance":"1901-1949","architect_builder":"Johnson Bros. Shipyard, Ferrysburg, Michigan","architectural_style":"OTHER: canal tugboat","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still operating as the canal system's ceremonial flagship and as a historic \"bell boat\"; retired from heavy service in 1986.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:51.13616-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/01001320.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001320/8a2bd71770-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001320/8a2bd71770-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ted Fischer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Urger_(canal_tugboat)_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ted Fischer</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Urger_(canal_tugboat)_01.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"14000860","name":"New York State Barge Canal","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/new-york-state-barge-canal-14000860/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321641","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urger_(canal_tugboat)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7900486"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/saratoga-county/urger-canal-tugboat-01001320/"}