sternwheeler

Early September was typically the time when excursion boats began winding down the season. Undoubtedly, the most famous of firms that operated excursion vessels was Streckfus Steamers, of St. Louis… Read More

Originally the pleasure steamboat Minnesota, this petite sternwheeler was a product of the Howard Shipyard at Jeffersonville, Ind. In the autumn of 1915, Edmonds J. Howard, proprietor of the famed… Read More

Built at Rock Island, Ill., in 1892 for the prominent lumber firm of Weyerhaeuser & Denkmann, the E. Rutledge was named for a wealthy lumberman from Chippewa Falls, Wis. The… Read More

Originally named Mary S. Blees, this sternwheeler was built in 1899 at Mobile, Ala., on a wooden hull that measured 170 feet in length by 34 feet in width, with… Read More

Built by the Ayer & Lord Marine Ways at Paducah, Ky., in 1918, the H.G. Hill was 165 feet long by 30 feet wide. The engines (12-inch cylinders with 6-foot… Read More

Named for a Cincinnati coal dealer, the Tom Dodsworth was built in 1871 at Pittsburgh by James A. Blackmore. Capt. George McCallam was the first master of the big sternwheeler,… Read More

For a contract cost of $17,000, the packet Electra was ordered from the Howard Shipyard at Jeffersonville, Ind., in 1897. The sternwheeler was constructed on a wooden hull measuring 170… Read More

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

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