The Carleton

The Carleton was a side wheeler built at Nashwaaksis, opposite Fredericton, in 1847. It was 110 feet long with a 22-tonnage capacity. She was built for the great increase in carrying trade on the upper St. John which had occurred during the mid-1840s.

In 1847, George Connell had the Carleton built as the first "light water" steamer designed especially for service between Fredericton and Woodstock. She made her first run to Woodstock in eleven hours. She maintained a schedule of three trips a week, but despite her light draft - fourteen inches when light and two and a half feet when loaded - she was unable to make the run during the low water of late summer. During this period, she was used for various purposes on the lower river. In August of 1850, while she was off the Woodstock run, she became the first steamer to go up the Oromocto.

While such vessels as the Reindeer and Forest Queen occasionally travelled to Woodstock, other steamers of this period were used primarily on this run.

The Carleton went out of service at the close of the 1852 season. The Carleton Sentinel reported somberly in July of 1853 that the Carleton was lying at Connell's Wharf in Woodstock when she was set afire "by some ill disposed person and burned nearly to the water's edge".