Photo of the steamboat ferry, Vermont owned by the Champlain Transportation Company, with a large number of people on deck and in the foreground. Undated. 1920s? 1930s? The original Vermont side wheeler was built in 1808 by John and James Winans in Burlington, Vermont. It sank in 1815 but its engine and boiler were recovered and sold to the Lake Champlain Steamboat Company.