Old Boat Column

One of this writer’s favorite steamboats built by the Howard Shipyard at Jeffersonville, Ind., was the Sunshine. Launched on May 3, 1888, for a contract price of $21,750,… Read More

In 1900, the Howard Shipyards built a beautiful and large sidewheeler named Indiana. Constructed on a wood hull measuring 285 feet in length by 45 feet in width, the… Read More

With Election Day approaching and campaigns heating up, the Old Boat Column this week features a steamboat named for a famous politician. Erastus Wells was born in 1823… Read More

One of the best known and most revered steamboats of all time was the cotton packet America, owned and operated by Capt. LeVerrier (“L.V.”) Cooley. A trim steamboat… Read More

In last week’s Old Boat Column image of the St. Louis riverfront in 1970, one of the vessels prominently in view was the restaurant boat Lt. Robert E. Lee. Read More

This week, the Old Boat Column steps back five decades to August 1970. Prominently in the foreground of this aerial view of St. Louis is the sternwheel dredge… Read More

If you reside in New Orleans or have occasion to visit the fabled Crescent City, allow yourself ample time to follow the call of the calliope and take a leisurely… Read More

In 1952, a young man named Clarke Campbell Hawley joined the crew of the excursion steamboat Avalon as calliope player and popcorn popper, embarking on an adventure that spanned… Read More

The river community is saddened with news of the passing of Letha Jane Greene, 77, on June 20, at Cincinnati, Ohio. Youngest of the four children born to Capt. Read More

A lucky and recent acquisition is this week’s main image of a pretty packet boat that was popular in the annals of Ohio River steamboating. The Tell City… Read More