How to start learning steamboat history? Read Mark Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi“. Ride a true steamboat, like the Str. NATCHEZ at New Orleans, or the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE at Louisville, KY.
Visit steamboat museums and steamboat related places and museums along the rivers – see The Steamboat Traveler guidebook for such places.
For further research, Steamboats.org is offering a few resources like the Glossary of Steamboat Terms or a (very basic) interactive steamboat model to explore.
There is a good collection of links to other websites with river and steamboat related information as well as links to river webcams where – if you’re lucky – you can watch boats passing by.
There also is a Paddle-Wheel Steamboat Database with the names of historic steamboats on the Western Rivers as well as on the Columbia River and in California.
Learn about Ghosts and Superstitions on the River.
Steamboat Books, Videos, Music and more …
- Book Reviews
- Indices for classic steamboat books
- Steamboat Videos & Music
- Sheet Music Reviews
- Steamboats in the Movies
Greene Line and the Delta Queen: History and Facts
Here is a collection of scattered information and stories connected to the famous steamboat company Greene Line and the Greene family as well as their most famous steamboat still existing today, the Delta Queen. By far this collection doesn’t form a full picture of the Greene Line but give some great insights and rare facts. So please enjoy and don’t hesitate to contact us when you can contribute some more information.
- An interview with Mary B. Greene, 1948
- Historic letter from Capt. Tom Greene, 1949, about the Delta Queen’s whistle
- List of all Greene Line boats
- Delta Queen portrait, information and history
- About the hulls of Chris Greene and Tom Greene
More Steamboat History …
- History of the Frisbie Engine & Machine Co. – reaching back until 1858
- Portrait of the James P. Pearson – stern-wheel towboat built in 1898
- History of Capt. William Rodney Massie – 1839-1924, steamboat captain on the Missouri River
- Dubuque-Built Diesel Excursion boats – the story of Captain Dennis Trone
- Capt. Mike William’s Delta Queen Log – 2002, reporting the situation at the wharf in New Orleans while preparing the Mississippi Queen and the Delta Queen for their return to the rivers in 2002