On March 25, 1882, shortly after departing Vicksburg, Miss., the towboat Iron Mountain struck an underwater obstruction and sank near Island 102 on the Lower Mississippi River. The entire crew… Read More
steam towboat
Three steam towboats were built at Dubuque, Iowa, in 1911 for the Kansas City District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All were constructed on steel hulls measuring 137.6… Read More
Capt. J.T. Hatfield, who long was in charge of the Hickey Transportation Company at Covington, Ky., had the honor of having two towboats named for him. The first vessel was… Read More
Built by Ward at Charleston, W.Va., in 1926, the towboat E.D. Kenna was constructed for the Ohio River Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, on a steel hull that was 144 feet… Read More
In the glory days of the big steam towboats, one of the best-known ones was the Boaz. Built in 1882, the wooden hull measured 193 feet in length by 44… Read More
It hardly seems possible that five decades have passed since this writer, as a 15-year-old, first visited the famous steam towboat Sprague in June of 1969. I shall never forget… Read More
In the early spring of 1961, the retired steam towboat George M. Verity became a museum at Keokuk, Iowa. The sternwheeler was floated into a basin and placed upon a… 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 tale… Read More
Built in 1896 at Madison, Ind., the wooden hull of the towboat Gleaner measured 185 feet in length by 35 feet in width. Five boilers supplied steam to engines (24-inch… Read More
In the glory days of steam towboating, one of the best vessels of that era was the Oakland. Built at Pittsburgh in 1872 by Capt. Tom Fawcett and Capt. William… Read More
