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
Old Boat Column
A look back into the rich history of the inland waterways transportation industry. From the earliest steam paddlewheelers to the grand sternwheel and sidewheel packets, and the eventual transition from steam to diesel, you’ll find fascinating stories and photos of a different steamboat every week.
Of the 28 steamboats owned and operated by Greene Line Steamers, only one was a sidewheeler. The Greenland was built in 1903 by the Knox boatyard at Harmar (Marietta), Ohio. Read More
This week’s Old Boat Column presents four pilothouse-on-the-roof towboats, two of which never raised steam again after the photograph was taken during the summer of 1947. They are moored at… Read More
When the Ryman Line, which operated packet boats out of Nashville to the upper Cumberland valley, went bankrupt in the fall of 1916, its assets included the Henry Harley. This… Read More
Well known on the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers as a salvage boat, the T.F. Eckert was built at Cincinnati in 1869. Constructed at a cost of $40,000 on a… 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
One of three steamboats to carry the name, the Des Arc was built at Paducah, Ky., in 1862. Records state that the wooden hull (205 feet in length by 31… 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
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
Named for the daughter of a Cincinnati furniture manufacturer, the sidewheel packet Emma Duncan was built in 1860 at Pittsburgh. Constructed on a wooden hull measuring 180 feet in length… Read More
