{"nrhp_refnum":"02001395","name":"K. WHITTELSEY (Tugboat)","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"3 North St. at Rondout Creek","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kingston","county":"Ulster County","state":"NY","lat":41.92244939200003,"lon":-73.96977031899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1930 riveted-steel diesel tugboat, 90 feet 6 inches long, berthed in Rondout Creek at Kingston, Ulster County, New York. Spedden Shipbuilders of Baltimore built it.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the tug is an intact, representative example of an early-generation diesel tugboat under Criterion C. It keeps its original 800 hp Ingersoll-Rand engine, which records early diesel marine engineering. Few long-serving tugs still have their original power plants.","narrative":"Berthed in Rondout Creek at Kingston, New York, the K. Whittelsey is a 185-gross-ton diesel tugboat built in 1930 by Spedden Shipbuilding of Baltimore for the Oil Transfer Corporation. Her riveted steel hull measures 90 feet 6 inches, and she still carries her original six-cylinder, 800 hp Ingersoll-Rand engine, which weighs about 70 tons. Advertised in 1930 as the most powerful direct-driven diesel tug on the Atlantic Coast, she towed oil barges from New York, reaching as far as South America. Between 1936 and 1940 her pilothouse and funnel were lowered so she could work the New York State Barge Canal. Later owners renamed her several times, and she sank once at a Hoboken dock before being raised. Restoration began in 1991, and she now serves as a museum ship open to schoolchildren. She was listed for her intact record of early diesel marine technology, a rare survival among tugboats.","period_of_significance":"1930 C. 1940","architect_builder":"Spedden Shipbuilders, Baltimore, MD","architectural_style":"OTHER: tugboat","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Berthed in Rondout Creek; an ongoing restoration to operating condition began in 1991, and the tug is frequently opened to the public as a museum ship.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.101086-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/02001395.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322640","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/ulster-county/k-whittelsey-tugboat-02001395/"}