Paddle-Wheel Steamboats

This steamboats galleries are representing most of today’s still existing paddle-wheel steamboats in the US and Canada. Most of them are not active steamboats anymore but land-based, museum boats or converted to diesel. Some steamers are still active, though.

In this list you’ll find information about each of the boats, historic details, picture galleries, calliope music, steam whistle recordings and some videos.

Delta Queen

The legendary Delta Queen is the last remaining historical steamboat capable for overnight cruises, though it is unclear whether she’ll ever be able to sail as a cruise ship again. The Delta Queen and her identical twin the Delta King…

Belle of Louisville

Louisville, KY The Belle of Louisville was originally built as Idlewild in 1914 by James Rees & Sons of Pittsburgh, PA, for the Memphis Packet Co. She left Pittsburgh for Memphis, TN, on January 9, 1915. In February 1928, she…

Str. Natchez

New Orleans, LA The Natchez is a beautiful sternwheeler cruising in the harbor of New Orleans. Since 1975 she is the place to have dance, music and dinner while steamin’ around for a couple of hours. She was built in…

Mississippi Queen

The Mississippi Queen was built by Jeffboat Inc. in Jeffersonville, Indiana, from 1973 to 1975. Her owner, the Delta Queen Steamboat Company, says, she is “the fulfillment of Mark Twain’s dreams”. The Mississippi Queen was launched on November 30, 1974.…

American Queen

Mississippi River The American Queen is the third “Queen” from the former Delta Queen Steamboat Company and is probably the largest steamboat ever built. She was built in 1994 by McDermott Shipyard and launched in 1995 at an approximate cost…

Julia Belle Swain

La Crosse, WI The Julia Belle Swain was designed by Capt. Dennis Trone. She was built in 1971 being the last boat of Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works, Dubuque, IA. The boat is powered by an engine from 1915, manufactured…

Becky Thatcher

(formerly Marietta, OH) The Becky Thatcher was originally built as Mississippi (III), an inspection boat of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, in 1926. Her steel hull and machinery were new but the cabins came from her predecessor, the…

W. P. Snyder jr.

Marietta, OH The W. P. Snyder Jr. was originally built as the Carnegie Steel Co. towboat W. H. Clingerman in 1918 by Rees of Pittburgh, PA. In 1938, she was renamed J. L. Perry and in 1945 A-1. In August…

Boone No. 7, Anderson Ferry

Cincinnati, OH The BOONE NO. 7 (#0678) was built in 1935 (or 1937, according to Way’s Packet Directory) and is in operation since then. Originally steam powered and converted to diesel in 1947 she is not in daily operation today…

S.S. Tutshi

Carcross, Yukon Territory, Canada The sternwheel steamboat S.S. Tutshi, or actually her remainings, are located right next to the railroad station of the village Carcross, YT. Built in 1917, taken out of service in 1955 and restored by the Yukon…

S.S. Klondike

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada The S.S. Klondike is one of the very few remaining paddlewheel steamboats on the Yukon River. In the times of the great gold rush on the Klondike near Dawson, the Whitehorse – Dawson route for vital…

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…

City of Baton Rouge

Le Claire, IA The City of Baton Rouge was built in 1916 at the Howard Ship Yards in Jeffersonville, IN. The boat was operated by the Baton Rouge Transportation Company and served as a ferry boat at the Mississippi. Like…

Logsdon

Dubuque, IA The sternwheeler towboat Logsdon is part of the Mississippi River Museum at Dubuque, Iowa. She is placed at the formerly Dubuque Boat and Boiler Works close to the ice harbor and only some yards away from the William…

Admiral

(formerly St. Louis, MO) The Admiral was built at St. Louis by Streckfus Steamers Inc. in 1938 – 1940 as a sidewheel excursion boat. Her hull came from the former railroad transfer Albatross built in 1907. She is 374 feet…

George M. Verity

Keokuk, IA The sternwheeler George M. Verity was built as the towboat S. S. Thorpe in 1927 by the Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works, Dubuque, IA, for the Upper Mississippi Barge Line. Her pilothouse originally was placed forward at the…

Str. President

The hull of the sidewheeler President was originally built in 1924 for the steamer Cincinnati by the Midland Barge Co., Midland, PA. In 1933 the Cincinnati was sold to Streckfus Steamers Inc. of St. Louis, MO. The boat received a…

William M. Black

Dubuque, IA The William M. Black is one of four almost identical sisters. The others are William S. Mitchell (operated until 1986, now used as the U.S.S. Nightmare at Cincinnati, OH), Captain William Clark and Captain Meriwether Lewis (operated until…

Lone Star

Le Claire, IA The Lone Star was the last operating sternwheel towboat on the Mississippi. Her wooden hull was built in 1890, the today’s superstructure was added in 1922 in Rock Island, IL. She made a good job for the…

Showboat Goldenrod

The Goldenrod was built in 1909 by Pope Dock Company for W. R. Markle. She was originally named Markle’s New Showboat but soon renamed Goldenrod. The Goldenrod claimed to be the last showboat built for the Mississippi River and the…

Mamie S. Barrett

The Mamie S. Barrett was built as towboat in 1921 by the Howard Shipyard of Jeffersonville, IN, for the Barrett Line (Oscar F. Barrett) of Cincinnati. She was 146 feet long and 30 feet wide. She was sold to the…

Delta King

Sacramento, CA The Delta King and her identical twin the Delta Queen – called the million dollar boats – were fabricated from 1924 to 1927 on the River Clyde at the Isherwood Yard in Glasgow, Scotland, (other sources claim William…

Maneuverboat 35

Hannibal, OH The MANEUVERBOAT 35 is a typical work boat from the Army Corps of Engineers to maintain wicked dams. MANEUVERBOAT 35 today is part of a beautiful exhibit about these almost extinct construction type of locks and dams -…

Showboat Majestic

Portsmouth, OH The MAJESTIC has been the last active historic showboat on the rivers until 2019 when the City of Cincinnati sold her. In mid-February 2021 the MAJESTIC has been towed to New Richmond, OH, where it might stay for…

Chris Greene

Melbourne, KY The remainings of the Chris Greene can be found in a backyard along the Ohio River at Melbourne, KY, just a couple of miles outside of Cincinnati. The boat was built in 1925 for the Greene Line. Despite…

Barbara H.

Lamb, IN The Barbara H was originally named Standard and built by Marietta Manufactoring, Point Pleasant, WV, for Standard Oil, OH, in 1923. She’s a sternwheel diesel towboat. She’s 99´-2´´ long and 19´-8´´ wide. In her early years she pushed…

Str. Portland

Portland, OR The Str. PORTLAND was built at Portland, Oregon, in 1947 as sternwheel towboat, steel hull, but wooden upper decks. Decommissioned in 1981, the Oregon Maritime Museum is using her since 1989 as a swimming museum, while she is still working and is…

Minne-Ha-Ha

Lake George, NY The Minne-Ha-Ha has been built in 1969 on Lake George, New York. She’s powered by a real steam engine and is fitted with a fully functional steam calliope and several beautiful steam whistles. While she has been…

Ticonderoga

Shelburne, VT Today, the steamboat Ticonderoga sits high and dry on land at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. The side-paddle-wheel passenger steamboat has a vertical beam engine and is one of the once many boats that provided freight and passenger…

Gordon C. Greene

St. Louis, MO  The GORDON C. GREENE, built as the CAPE GIRARDEAU and being renamed several times in her life ended up in St. Louis, MO, as RIVER QUEEN. She sank there on 1967. When the river stage is very low,…

Mike Fink

Covington, KY The former towboat JOHN W. HUBBARD today is serving as a nice restaurant at Covington, KY, right on the Ohio River riverfront, renamed MIKE FINK. The JOHN W. HUBBARD aka MIKE FINK is designated an historic vessel and…

Sprague

Vicksburg, MS The SPRAGUE was the largest steam sternwheel towboat ever built for inland river service. The boat was launched in 1901 and went into service in 1902. She operated until March 5, 1948, when she was decommissioned at Memphis…

Chautauqua Belle

Mayville, NY The steamer Chautauqua Belle is an authentic Mississippi River-style sternwheel steamboat owned and operated by U.S. Steam Lines Ltd, operating on Chautauqua Lake in Western New York. She is one of only five operating authentic passenger sternwheel steamboats…

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