Canal Boat Cabin

From Coal Boats to Tidewater

by Manville B. Wakefield

"The ease of living on board a canal boat depended in large part on how well organized and compact the essentials were arranged. The average cabin aboard a canal boat had two bunks along one side and one along the other. Each bunk was simply a straw bag with sheets and blankets over it. The closet for dishes was over the bunks. A drop-leaf table, that looked like part of the wall when not in use, and a small coal and wood stove (management frowned on the burning of coal on board the boats) completed the luxuries on board."

(From display at D&H Canal Museum)