Old Boat Column

In 1919, the U.S. government entered into a contract with Edward F. Goltra whereby four large towboats and 19 barges were to be built, paid for by the government with… Read More

The Fort Peck Dam on the Missouri River in Montana was authorized by Congress in 1927, and President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order in October 1933 under the National… Read More

In the May 23 Old Boat column, we mentioned the Boatyard of the U.S. Engineer Department at Gasconade, Mo., located near present-day Mile 104.8 on the right bank of the… Read More

Mention was made last week of the snagboat Missouri clearing the wreck of the Str. Elisha Woods. Snagboats are a nearly forgotten, though once very important, fixture on the navigable… Read More

There have been any number of formulas and theories as to the proper ratio between length and width of boat hulls. In 1901, the Howards built a steam sternwheel towboat… Read More

In 1892, the Huntington & St. Louis Towboat Company had a towboat built at Cincinnati that was named Wash Honshell. The hull was 157 by 28 feet, and the engines… Read More

The Cincinnati, Big Sandy & Pomeroy Packet Company—otherwise known as the White Collar Line owing to the fact that boats owned by the concern sported twin white bands on each… Read More

News that Amherst Madison had recently purchased the Michael J. Grainger and would rename it Ohio brings to mind other vessels named Ohio on the inland rivers. Most recently, of… Read More

Few living within the Big Sandy River valley today could imagine that at one time the best way to travel in the valley was by steamboat. In the late 19th… Read More

The Old Boat Column in The Waterways Journal has been a fixture in the magazine for many years. I’m not sure exactly when it started, but  it was an intermittent… Read More