City of Clinton

Clinton, IA

The City of Clinton is serving as a museum and showboat in Clinton, IA.

The City of Clinton was built in 1936 at the Dravo Shipyards in Neville Island, PA, for the Ohio River Company of Huntington and Cincinnati. Originally named Omar her apperance then was similar to the W. P. Snyder jr. She was a 2-deck working boat, 207 feet long and 36 feet wide. Decommissioned in 1961 she became a part of the West Virginia centennial celebration in 1962. She was remodeled as a showboat gaining a third deck and renamed Rhododendron, the state’s flower. She served as a floating theater and museum towed around the state from Charleston to Fairmont.

On September 15, 1966, the state of West Virginia sold the Rododendren to the city of Clinton where she was moored at Riverfront Park. In 1975 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started to build a protective dike along the city’s waterfront. The showboat took a vacation. She returned in 1980 and was renamed City of Clinton. Since that she is located atop of the dike. The boat underwent some renovations during that vacation period. In 1991 the first deck was completely remodeled. Today the City of Clinton looks like a combination of a towboat and a passenger boat.

City of Clinton
City of Clinton
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