Kanawha River Archives - The Waterways Journal

Point Pleasant River Museum Finds New Location

November 8, 2019

The Point Pleasant River Museum and Learning Center has found a site for a new home. Now the task is to design and build that new home. The optimistic timeline… Read More

Ninth-Decade Towboats In Amherst Madison Fleet Laura J

Ninth-Decade Towboats In Amherst Madison Fleet

January 14, 2019

The sternwheel towboats Lady Lois and Laura J, owned by Amherst Madison, are both in their ninth decade of river duty. Pictured here on the Kanawha River in front of… Read More

The Sternwheeler Oriole The Oriole at an Ohio River landing. (Keith Norrington collection)

The Sternwheeler Oriole

November 23, 2018

An attractive steamboat that was important to travel and commerce on the Ohio River in the early 1900s was the Oriole. The history of this vessel dates back at least… Read More

The Second D.T. Lane A vintage postcard view of the second D.T. Lane (1908-1934) in a Kanawha River lock.

In last week’s Old Boat Column, we recounted the 1903 shoving contest between the sternwheeler D.T. Lane (first) and the propeller towboat James Rumsey. The D.T. Lane (1871–1908) towed coal… Read More

Paddlewheel Vs. Propellers The 1903 shoving contest between the D.T. Lane and James Rumsey on the Kanawha River near Charleston, W.Va. —Keith Norrington collection

The 1903 shoving contest between the D.T. Lane and James Rumsey on the Kanawha River near Charleston, W.Va. —Keith Norrington collection

Paddlewheel Vs. Propellers

March 12, 2018

In 1903, the Charles Ward Engineering Company of Charleston, W.Va., constructed a twin-propeller steam towboat named James Rumsey for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Wheeling, W.Va. Built on… Read More

Silver Bridge Collapse Anniversary Commemorated Jack Fowler, right, executive director of the Point Pleasant River Museum and Learning Center, talks about the Silver Bridge collapse with Tom Smith, West Virginia secretary of transportation, at a reception at the museum before the 50th anniversary memorial ceremony for the bridge collapse on December 15. (Photo by Jim Ross)

Jack Fowler, right, executive director of the Point Pleasant River Museum and Learning Center, talks about the Silver Bridge collapse with Tom Smith, West Virginia secretary of transportation, at a reception at the museum before the 50th anniversary memorial ceremony for the bridge collapse on December 15. (Photo by Jim Ross)

Silver Bridge Collapse Anniversary Commemorated

December 25, 2017

The communities of Point Pleasant, W.Va., and Gallipolis, Ohio, gathered the morning and evening of December 15 to mark the anniversary of the Silver Bridge disaster. At 4:58 p.m. on… Read More