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June 2018
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boatingonthehudson.com
F
or the last four decades, the melodic strains of the MINNE HA-HA’s
steam calliope have wafted over the Village of Lake George. From
Memorial Day through Columbus Day, its clarion call can be heard six
to seven times each day, so much so that some locals even use it as a
way to keep time during the busy season. The calliope has become an
integral part of the fabric of the community, and its humble beginnings
can be traced back to a small village not far from our own.
In 1855, a farmer named Joshua C. Stoddard, of Worcester, VT, invented
a peculiar instrument consisting of several graduated steam whistles with
corresponding valves sitting atop a long pipe, or manifold. These valves
were connected with a system of levers and wires to a small keyboard.
Pressing a key would pull these wires and levers, opening the valve
and allowing steam to flow from the pipe into the whistle. On October
9th of that year, the patent for his “American Patented Steam Piano”
was approved. Stoddard had built the instrument not for use aboard a