The Kestrel is located in the George C. Boldt Yacht House

George C. Boldt Yacht House

George C. Boldt Yacht House is a historic yacht house located on the northeast shore of Wellesley Island near Alexandria Bay in Jefferson County, New York. It was designed by the Philadelphia architects G. W. & W. D. Hewitt, built in 1903, and is a massive eclectic Shingle style structure composed...

 on the Saint Lawrence River

Saint Lawrence River

The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...

 in Jefferson County

Jefferson County, New York

Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 116,229. It is named after Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States of America, and president at the time the county was created in 1805...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. The vessel was built in 1892 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 on August 12, 1977 when it was located in West New York

West New York, New Jersey

West New York is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 49,708.-Geography:...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. The vessel was donated to the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority which owns and operates Boldt Castle

Boldt Castle

Boldt Castle, located on Heart Island in the Thousand Islands of the Saint Lawrence River, along the northern border of New York State, is a major landmark and tourist attraction in its region.-History:...

.

History

The Kestrel was designed by D. Crawford and built by George Lawley at the South Boston shipyard in 1892. In 1899, the Kestrel was sold to Samuel Keyser of Baltimore, Maryland. In 1937, James A. Trowbridge of Norton, Connecticut purchased the Kestrel. An overhaul and replacement of parts was done in 1957. Robert P. Scripps of New York purchased the yacht in 1972. The American Maritime Academy on Staten Island purchased the yacht from Scripps. In 1988, the yacht was acquired at auction by John H. Luhrs of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Ponte Vedra Beach is an unincorporated seaside community in St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located eighteen miles southeast of downtown Jacksonville and north of St. Augustine, it is part of the Jacksonville Beaches area. It is an upmarket tourist resort area best known for its...

. Luhrs had the steam engine completely repaired. In 2009, Luhrs donated the Kestrel to the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority.