Old Boat Column

Built in 1868 by the Barmore yard at Jeffersonville, Ind., the Belle Lee was a palatial packet. The wooden hull was 291 feet in length by 42.4 feet in width… Read More

Built for the United States Mail Line in 1882, the sidewheeler City of Madison was constructed at its namesake city on the Ohio River in southern Indiana. The wooden hull… Read More

As our nation continues to battle the coronavirus, the deployment of several hospital ships to render aid at strategic ports brings to mind the fact that several steamboats were used… Read More

A familiar sight in the St. Louis harbor for nearly seven decades was the steam tug Susie Hazard. Built in 1891 at St. Louis for the Southern Coal, Coke &… Read More

More than six decades ago, the most powerful towboat ever built to operate on inland waters was christened by the Federal Barge Line. Constructed by the St. Louis Shipbuilding &… Read More

In 1923, Greene Line Steamers contracted for the company’s first steel-hulled vessel, built by the Marietta Manufacturing Company at Point Pleasant, W.Va. Constructed for the Cincinnati–Huntington trade, the hull of… Read More

In 1892, the Howard Shipyard & Dock Company at Jeffersonville, Ind., received a contract for the construction of a centerwheel ferry boat for the Union Ferry Company of New Orleans. Read More

Eagerly awaited by Civil War and steamboat historians, a new DVD entitled “Remember the Sultana” is now available. The 96-minute documentary presents the riveting story of the horrific explosion of… Read More

My hometown of New Albany, Ind., founded in 1813 along the Ohio River, is widely known by river historians as the birthplace of the famous steamboats Eclipse, Robt. E. Lee… Read More

For a contract cost of $40,900, the beautiful sidewheeler Tarascon was constructed on a wooden hull 250 feet in length by 38 feet in width at Jeffersonville, Ind., in 1863… Read More