Old Boat Column

Happy New Year! Along with the onset of winter, we begin the first Old Boat Column of 2022 with a look back at Alton Slough, a narrow inlet on the… Read More

As most of the world celebrates the glory of Christmas and the coming of the new year this week, the Old Boat Column focuses upon several steamboat names with a… Read More

The Howard Shipyard at Jeffersonville, Ind., built a trim sternwheeler in 1910 named Nashville to run in the Evansville–Nashville–Paducah trade for W.W. Parminter of Nashville, Tenn. The wood-hulled riverboat measured… Read More

Harry Houdini (1874-1926) was an American illusionist and stunt performer, famous for his sensational escape acts. His first appearances were on the vaudeville circuit in the United States and later… Read More

Another stellar product of the Howard Shipyard was the beautiful and large sidewheeler Indiana. Constructed on a wood hull measuring 285 feet in length by 45 feet in width, the… Read More

The last of a line of government steamboats to carry the name the Mississippi had an unusual beginning. A new steel hull, constructed by the Howard Shipyard at Jeffersonville, Ind.,… Read More

The Howard Steamboat Museum at Jeffersonville, Ind., was recently the site of a riverboat model extravaganza. The museum proudly displays an excellent model of the steam towboat Chicot, the generous… Read More

The Marietta Manufacturing Company was started in 1852 by the W.F. Robinson Company at Marietta, Ohio. Initially constructing sailing vessels, the firm soon commenced building steam-propelled craft for commercial service… Read More

The sternline telegraph has been abuzz in recent days with the exciting news that the steamer Julia Belle Swain was recently towed to a nearby drydock and hauled out for… Read More

Built in 1888 at Haynes Landing, W.Va., the Clipper originated as a “sawmill boat,” constructed by the Haynes family of Proctor, W.Va. When first built, the wood-hulled vessel, owned by… Read More