Originally named Irene D, this former rafter was built in 1888 at Rock Island, Ill. It was constructed on a wooden hull that measured 133.5 feet in length by 29.6… Read More
sternwheeler
Now that the beloved Delta Queen has received its long-awaited exemption and is well on the way to again traversing the rivers in the foreseeable future, the Old Boat Column… 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
Regarded as one of the most beautiful steamboats afloat, the Virginia made big news 109 years ago when it wandered out of the flooding Ohio River on the night of… Read More
Built for the Pittsburgh & Cincinnati Packet Line, the Keystone State was constructed at Harmar, Ohio in 1890. The wooden hull of the sternwheeler measured 225 feet in length by… Read More
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 was constructed… 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 designed to… 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 sternwheeler Mayflower,… Read More
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 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 Chris Greene… Read More
