Author: Keith Norrington

The river community is saddened by the recent passing of Shirley Ruck Burwinkle, 91, who served as calliopist on the Str. Belle of Louisville (1966–1970) and was organist for… Read More

In previous Old Boat Columns throughout the past 10 years, we have presented various large and notably palatial cotton packets, such as the Belle of the Bends that ran… Read More

In late 1897, Edmonds J. Howard, esteemed proprietor of the Howard Shipyards & Dock Company at Jeffersonville, Ind., received what very likely was the most unique inquiry in the… Read More

In 1907, the steamer Mississippi led a parade of steamboats into Memphis with a special guest aboard. After spending the entire day of October 2 in St. Louis, President… Read More

It isn’t widely known that James Howard, founder of the Howard Shipyard in Jeffersonville, Ind., emigrated from Lancashire, England, in 1819 at the age of 5. Accompanied by his… Read More

John William Menke was born on August 3, 1880, in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his family operated a saloon. In 1902, he went to Jersey City, N.J., where his brother… Read More

Nearly a century ago, the automobile was coming into vogue as a common means of transportation for the American people. When cars were made affordable thanks to mass production,… Read More

After years of a relative respite from severe winters, it appears that icy times have returned. Unlike the Upper Mississippi River where, owing to ice harbors, coves and other… Read More

The Eagle Packet Company of St. Louis contracted in 1913 with the Howard Shipyard to build a wood-hulled sternwheeler for $26,000.  The new steamboat, 242 by 37.8… Read More

Built for the Red River and Caddo Lake cotton trades above Shreveport, La., the cotton packet Gem was constructed in 1898 along the Ohio River. It was a… Read More