Big Apple History . Building the Big Apple . The Black Ball Line


	A Black Ball Line ship

The regular transport of goods and passengers across the Atlantic may seem a fact of life today, but this was not always the case. Ships used to sail across the sea at wildly unpredictable times. If a vessel was only half-full, it might stay in the harbor for a week or two, awaiting more cargo.

All of that changed in October of 1817 when the Black Ball Line decided to establish a policy of regularly scheduled departures. The original plan explained that a ship would depart from New-York on the 5th of each month while, on the 1st of each month, a ship would leave Liverpool.

The EVENING POST in 1817 boasted that the commanders of all these ships were "men of great experience and activity." This article also speculated that "the regularity of their times of sailing . . . will make them very desirable opportunities for the conveyance of goods." This, of course, turned out to be quite true. Thanks to the Black Ball Line's innovation, New-York became a top-notch port, outshining Boston and Philadelphia.

Illustration: "Black Ball Packet 'Orpheus' Leaving the East River in 1835," by John Stobart, courtesy of Maritime Heritage Prints, Boston.