sternwheeler

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

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