Travis Vasconcelos News - The Waterways Journal

Family Vacation Steams Into History (WJ Online Exclusive) Drew Byrne, 12, strains as he turns the Belle of Louisville’s original wooden wheel while Capt. Mike Fitzgerald keeps a steady hand on the lever. (Photo by Shelley Byrne)

Drew Byrne, 12, strains as he turns the Belle of Louisville’s original wooden wheel while Capt. Mike Fitzgerald keeps a steady hand on the lever. (Photo by Shelley Byrne)

Family Vacation Steams Into History (WJ Online Exclusive)

July 22, 2022

By Drew Byrne Steamboat historians can learn a lot from a trip to Louisville, Ky., and just across the river in Jeffersonville, Ind. My family traveled to the area on… Read More

The Second Towboat Catharine Davis The Catharine Davis (second) underway with a tow. (Keith Norrington collection)

The Second Towboat Catharine Davis

May 7, 2021

Built at Marietta, Ohio, in 1896, the first steam towboat Catharine Davis had a hull constructed of Oregon fir that was 135 feet long and 26.5 feet wide. The engines,… Read More

The Cotton Packet Gem The Gem as a new boat at the Howard Shipyard in 1898. The stern of the towboat Transit shows at left. (Photo courtesy of the Howard Steamboat Museum)

The Gem as a new boat at the Howard Shipyard in 1898. The stern of the towboat Transit shows at left. (Photo courtesy of the Howard Steamboat Museum)

The Cotton Packet Gem

February 6, 2021

Built for the Red River and Caddo Lake cotton trades above Shreveport, La., the cotton packet Gem was constructed in 1898 along the Ohio River. It was a product of… Read More

The City Of Baton Rouge The City Of Baton Rouge on drydock in 1958. (Keith Norrington collection)

The City Of Baton Rouge

October 16, 2020

The ferry City of Baton Rouge is one of only a half dozen remaining riverboats built by the famed Howard Shipyard & Dock Company at Jeffersonville, Ind. It was constructed… Read More

River Museums Weathering Coronavirus Pandemic Hardships Directional arrows guide the footsteps of a visitor at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa. (Photo courtesy of National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium)

Directional arrows guide the footsteps of a visitor at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa. (Photo courtesy of National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium)

River Museums Weathering Coronavirus Pandemic Hardships

August 21, 2020

Although many of those who work on the river are considered essential workers, and shoreside businesses have begun to slowly reopen under various state guidelines, river museums are still seeing… Read More