Old Boat Column

In the column of September 5, we looked at the Str. Mark Twain and the Missouri River Navigation celebration trip. While the Mark Twain was the lead… Read More

In 1898, a group of investors purchased the Anchor Line packet City of New Orleans with the idea of rebuilding it into a superior Upper Ohio River packet. The… Read More

As addressed in this column last week, big things were happening on the Missouri River in June of 1932. The much touted “6-foot channel” was nearly ready for… Read More

Fire-breathing behemoths once roamed the Missouri River. No, this isn’t in reference to prehistoric or mythical creatures, but rather the four large dredges built by the U.S. Engineer Department… Read More

In 1919, Dravo Corporation built two steam sternwheel towboats in their yard in the back channel of Neville Island (Pa.). The boats were essentially sister vessels with one… Read More

The Inland Waterways Corporation (IWC), the government-owned barge line, as mentioned last week, had built a fleet of vessels in 1920 intended for Warrior-Tombigbee River service. In 1929, they… Read More

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Conference scheduled for August 10–12 brings to mind the early involvement that the Inland Waterways Corporation (IWC) had in that area shortly after its formation following… Read More

The Inland Waterways Corporation (IWC), the barge line chartered by the U.S. government to revitalize river transportation following World War I, was focused on the task and not bound… Read More

When summer sets in on the Upper Ohio River, heat and humidity tend to show up with it. In the pre-air-conditioning days of a bygone era, a favorite way… Read More

When people hear the word packet, most might envision the splendor of the legendary J.M. White, or the majestic Queen City. However, not all packets were large and palatial. Read More