Old Boat Column

Named for the mayor of Little Rock, Ark., the J.A. Woodson was built at Louisville, Ky., in 1881. According to the U.S. List of Merchant Vessels, the boat… Read More

The sternwheeler Joe Fowler was built at Jeffersonville, Ind., by the Howard Shipyard in 1888 for the Fowler family. Built at a contract cost of $20,800, it was… Read More

It is often mentioned in this column that many steamboats utilized engines, boilers and other machinery that had seen service on a previous vessel. This week, we present the… Read More

Named for an iron industrialist at Nashville, Tenn., and owned by the Ryman Line, the handsome sternwheeler J.P. Drouillard was a product of the Howard Shipyard at Jeffersonville, Ind. Read More

Every boat has a beginning and an ending. This week’s Old Boat Column presents a vignette of a vessel whose history both began and ended at Pittsburgh. The… Read More

This week’s Old Boat Column takes us for a visit to the Cincinnati wharf. In this serene image, taken from the stern of the excursion steamer Island Queen, we… Read More

Happy New Year! Now that winter is officially here, we begin the Old Boat Column for 2019 with a frigid photo. Taken in the mouth of the frozen… Read More

On this Christmas Eve, the Old Boat Column editor concludes his seventh year of penning river history vignettes with a sweet story of the Polly. Affectionately known as… Read More

The cabin of the Chris Greene decorated for Christmas. (Keith Norrington collection) River historian and WJ correspondent Virginia Bennett (1924–2013) loved to reminisce about her favorite steamboat, the… Read More

This week, the Old Boat Column presents an image of a towboat that was dubbed the “race horse of the Allegheny.” The vessel originated in 1877 as… Read More