David Lear Buckman relates the story of the Wreck of the Swallow in Old Steamboat Days on the Hudson.
"The steamboat Swallow , one of the most popular and speedy boats of her time, on her way down the river, in a snow squall, from Albany, on Monday evening, April 7, 1845, met with disaster. She was under command of Captain Squires and was known as a night boat. She left Albany in the evening and reached New York the next morning. When near Athens, which is nearly opposite the city of Hudson, she struck a rock, took fire, broke in two and rapidly sank. There is little doubt but that she was racing with the Express and Rochester. The reporter of the Hudson Rural Repository. Who, with characteristic enterprise, was on the spot, in his account of the disaster says:
‘. . .The alarm was immediately spread in Athens, and a large number of citizens soon rallied to the scene of disaster, and happily succeeded in rescuing many lives. Soon after the steamboats Express and Rochester came down and promptly rendered what assistance was in their power, taking many passengers with them to New York. The Swallow had on board a large number of passengers, but the exact loss of life is at present unknown (the number lost proved to be about fifteen). The night was exceedingly dark, and very cold. Our citizens are yet busy about the wreck.’
. . .The place since the eventful wreck has always been called Swallow Rocks."