Transcribed from the Reading Eagle newspaper, Reading, Pennsylvania, 15 April 1894

Includes an interview of Curtin Rickenbach

RICKENBACH’S BOAT YARD

WHERE CANAL AND RIVER CRAFTS ARE CONSTRUCTED.

A Busy Place Not Far From the Maiden Creek Pumping Station—How It Pays to Keep a Hot House.

About 20 years ago, when boating was still a paying business in eastern Penn’a, James Rickenbach, who is now deceased 3 years next May, owned between 30 and 50 boats, the greater portion of which he hired out to be used on the Schuylkill canal.

Mr. Rickenbach lived not far from where the present Rickenbach station, on the main line of the Reading railroad, is now located. This station was so named on account of the Rickenbach family’s prominence. A score of years ago, there was still a great deal of traffic on the canal.

It paid to run a boat and, no matter how many there were to hire, they were generally all out by the middle of the season. The man who found himself out of work in summer got a few partners and hired a boat to carry freight. If he had luck or tact enough to get a full load every time, of course, the business paid well.

Many of Mr. Rickenbach’s boats were hired out on shares. He furnished the boat, team, and feed and then received half the profits. Others were hired out at a certain sum per season. Long trips were made sometimes. The Rickenbach boats could be seen on the Delaware River, Erie Canal, Northern Canal, and even on more distant waters at times. In the fall, all the boats belonging to Mr. Rickenbach were tied up near his home. During the winter, all those that needed repairing were fixed up. Sometimes as high as 10 men were engaged at repairing.

Finally, Mr. Rickenbach commenced building new boats, for which he found a ready sale. This business was soon so well established that he sold 5 or 6 new boats every year. He not only built canal and river boats, but steamers as well. The engines, however, were not fitted at his boatyards. In 1876 he had between 15 and 20 men employed nearly all the time. Although boating declined on the canal greatly, the business of building and repairing boats held its own at Mr. Rickenbach’s yards. As the local trade became less, he received more orders from distant points. At the time of his death, Mr. Rickenbach had just as many orders as ever, but all the new boats were to be used on larger canals than the Schuylkill and on rivers. In the summer of 1891, two of his sons, Curtin and Wilson Rickenbach, took charge of the business. To this day, it is as flourishing a condition as ever. They already have orders for 6 new boats, to be built between now and next fall. John A. Hiester, of Reading, works on boats in a small way, but outside of this, there are no other boat builders in this part of the state. The Rickenbach boatyards of today cover an area about one-quarter of a mile long and 100 yards wide. They are located only a short distance from Leesport and are but a few hundred yards east of the Maidencreek pumping station.

Reading Eagle: "Does the business of boat building pay as well as 20 years ago?" asked the Eagle’s traveling correspondent of Curtin Rickenbach.

Curtin Rickenbach: "Yes, it pays just as well. One reason why our business does not grow less is because we build a greater variety of boats than formerly. We now build tugs, schooners, yachts, lighters, etc. None of these were made here when my father first started. A yacht is now building in our yards for a Philadelphia yacht club. It will cost about $500 when ready to leave our yards. The pilot house will be put on here as well as most of the interior work. The engine will, of course, have to be put in place in Phila. or elsewhere. It would not be worthwhile to go to the expense of sending the engine up to our yards when the work of putting it in the hull can be done near where the boat is intended to ply. When it is all ready, it can just as well be done here as at the club. The interior painting will be done at some other place. It takes a man about 6 weeks to construct such a yacht as far as we build it. My brother, William, received the contract for the yacht in question, and he did most of the work himself. We have a new lighter that is about ready to leave the yards. Most of such vessels we now build are used for river trade. A river boat is built almost like a canal boat, only the former must be considerably stronger and firmer than the latter. A lighter looks almost like a canal boat when linked together. Lighters are built in 2 sections and then coupled. It costs $5 toll to send an empty boat from Port Clinton to Phila. We do a considerable amount of repairing for parties from a distance, but Schuylkill canal boats don’t take much of our time nowadays."

Reading Eagle:"How much wood do you use, and where do you get it from?"

Curtin Rickenbach: "Last year and the year before we used about 250,000 feet of timber, and we will use more than that. We can use only a small amount of Berks County lumber in our business. Nearly all of what we use comes from along the Susquehanna. There is plenty of wood in Berks County that would answer our purpose, but there are no saw mills here that can saw as long pieces as we require. In the lumber region mentioned, there are plenty of mills that can turn out pieces as the logs can be procured. Most of the timber we get is from 65 to 75 feet in length. All of it is shipped to us by railroad. Oak, pine, and yellow pine are the kinds of wood used in boat building. The frame and the outside must be of the best oak. For the decking and inside, pine is used."

Reading Eagle:"Are the men you employ Berks Countians?"

Curtin Rickenbach: "Yes, they are all from the vicinity of Rickenbach. Sometimes we have as high as 20 at work. We work in winter unless the weather is unfavorable. We buy quite a number of old boats. These we tear up, and if a reasonable number of the timbers are found in good condition, we generally re-build and afterwards sell them again. From these old boats and from other sources, a large amount of wood accumulates about the yards. Much of this wood my brother, Adam, utilizes to heat his hot house."

A visit was next paid to the hot house, which is a well-constructed building with dimensions 24×120 feet. Adam Rickenbach is the proprietor. Jacob Degler, Samuel Heckman, and John Gehret assist him in management. 

Mr. Degler, while showing the building and its contents, said: 

Jacob Degler: "This building was only erected last fall. In the near future, an additional one of larger dimensions will be erected. If properly managed, hot houses pay well. When the need arises of using glass like the one of this building, it requires hardly any artificial heat to warm the interior. The rays of the sun shining through the glass being amply sufficient even on very cold days. When the sun does not shine, the temperature can be run up to 75 degrees with 20 pounds of steam, no matter how cold the weather." 

Mr. Rickenbach pays his whole attention is to market gardening. He raises truck on 9 acres of land. His strawberry patch covers nearly an acre. Flowers pay as well as anything raised in the hot house. 

Curtin Rickenbach: "Last fall we had between 1,200 and 1,500 small flower stalks placed in pots. Nearly all of these we sold towards spring at 25 and 30 cents apiece, the pot not included. They can easily be removed from the pots so that all the ground will remain around the plant, just holding the pot upside down and giving them a slight jolt. Such plants can be easily set in other pots and will not wilt in the least. We sell hundreds of bouquets at 10, 15, and 20 cents each. Many flowers are ordered in advance. For some kinds we receive as high as 5 cents apiece. There is hardly ever a glut in the flower market."

Reading Eagle: "Why do you have those chicks running about among the plants?" asked the Eagle visitor, who at least a dozen quite small chickens running about and picking at the lettuce and other low plants.

Jacob Degler: "We keep them in here to eat the small insects with which the plants become infested. As long as the chickens are small they won't scratch nor do any harm in any other way, and they destroy thousands of small bugs, worms, and lice. The chicks grow very nicely in such quarters. During the winter we sell a great deal of lettuce, which can be raised without much trouble. We get from 12 to 18 cents for a head. Another thing that pays hot-house keepers is the selling of plants to farmers and others for transplanting. For such plants there is a good demand every spring. We have many thousands of cabbage, tomato, and pepper plants growing now, and these will nearly all be sold before June. In about 6 weeks from the time the seed is sown the plants are fit to sell. They should not be much older than that. Big plants don’t grow readily as smaller ones. For tomato plants we charge from 50 cents to $1 per hundred. The price of cabbage plants is about the same if bought in large lots. In a small lots we get 8 cents a dozen."

Mr. Rickenbach has been in this business for quite a number of years.