Old Boat Column

About this time each year, those involved in navigation on the Missouri River are anticipating the start of the navigation season. The Corps reservoirs typically release water to support navigation… Read More

The Western Rivers towing industry was seeing much change in the year 1935. The Inland Waterways Corporation, the government-owned towing concern nicknamed the Federal Barge Line by rivermen, had been… Read More

The lead story on page 3 of the February 6, 1935, edition of The Waterways Journal was headlined “U.S. Richard T. Coiner Launched Into Ohio.” It detailed the launch of… Read More

For this special Wheelhouse issue of The Wateways Journal we will look at two important “firsts” that changed the lives of pilots for the better. In late 1929, the Howard… Read More

Like my friend Capt. Don Sanders, I also have those boats from the past that I consider favorites, even though I never had the opportunity to tread their decks. The… Read More

In 1938, the Inland Waterways Corporation (IWC), the government-owned barge line known among river interests as the Federal Barge Line, contracted with the Dubuque Boat & Boiler Company for a… Read More

In 1921, the Eichleay Contracting Company, Hays, Pa., built a sternwheel steam towboat for the U.S. Engineer Department. This was the first towboat built by Eichleay, and it was built… Read More

The subject of this column was prompted after Jeff Wilkes, riverman, realtor and historian from Savannah, Tenn., recently sent this writer a photo of a sunken boat that he had… Read More

There were two sternwheel packets named Granite State. According to Way’s Packet Directory, the first was built at California, Pa., in 1870 for Capt. Wash Kerr, who used it in… Read More

This first column for 2023 may be more appropriate for the Easter season since it involves a resurrection. The boat that will be described is 65 years old this year,… Read More