sternwheeler

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

The nation’s last authentic overnight steamboat may once again cruise the rivers of America’s heartland and deep south. On November 27, the U.S. House of Representatives reinstated an exemption to… Read More

An attractive steamboat that was important to travel and commerce on the Ohio River in the early 1900s was the Oriole. The history of this vessel dates back at least… Read More

This week, the Old Boat Column presents an unusual image. The packets Bald Eagle (left) and Saint Louis are engaged in the transfer of freight at a St. Louis railroad… Read More

Built by the Barmore yard at Jeffersonville, Ind., the sternwheeler Saint John began operating in 1878. The wooden hull measured 176.6 feet in length by 36.2 feet in width, with… Read More

Originally named Annie M, this sternwheel towboat was built in 1888 at Gadsden, Ala., by A.J. Sweeney & Son. Constructed on a wooden hull that measured 122 feet in length… Read More