From the Center of America : Steamboats and Shipyards Along the Lower Ohio River (Shawnee Books)

Swenson, Robert H.

Southern Illinois University Press（2026/06発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 248 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780809339907

Full Description

Charting the legacy of mid-America's shipyards and iconic steamboats

Before the railroad stitched together the American landscape, the dominant mode of transportation in the United States was by steamboat. These grand vessels, their iconic paddlewheels churning the country's rivers, have long captured the national imagination as symbols of innovation and adventure.

In the heart of America, four major rivers converge—the Cumberland and Tennessee with the Ohio; then the Ohio with the Mississippi. These three confluences, which author Robert Swenson christens the Four Rivers Reach, played a unique role in the development of the steamboats that dominated American continental transport for almost 100 years. Between 1825 and 1936, the river towns of Smithland, Paducah, Metropolis, Mound City, and Cairo launched 295 wood-hulled, steam-powered vessels. Drawing from a wealth of archival sources, Swenson presents detailed histories of these steamboats over a span of 110 years, accompanied by nearly one hundred illustrations and photographs.

The book focuses on distinct events in steamboat history, tracing the impact of these shipyards on the economies and communities of the river towns where they were built. It reveals how the availability of steamboats along this sixty-mile Reach affected migration, politics, and the US economy of the nineteenth century. Steamboats built at the Four Rivers Reach played pivotal roles in the forced relocation of Native Americans from southern Appalachia to Oklahoma, the outcome of the Civil War, and the Montana gold rush. From the Center of America demonstrates how steamboat building shaped the culture, people, and economy of this region—and how, in turn, the area and its steamships influenced the growth of the young United States.

Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments

Note to Readers

Preface

Introduction

Canoe Age, Flatboat/Keelboat Age and Early Steam: Pre-History to 1830
The Golden Age of Steamboats: 1830 to 1860
Civil War, Missouri River: 1860 to 1870
Life along the Reach: The Economy, Packets, and Towboats, 1870 to 1880
Cottonboats, Packets, Towboats, Railroads, and New Bridges: 1880 to 1900
Twilight of the Four Rivers Reach: Steamboat-Building Industry, 1900 to 1936

Conclusion

Bibliography

Photograph Collections Visited and Referenced

Notes

Index