Category Archives: Steamboat Birthplace
ROPE MAKING AND ROPEWALK IN WHEELING, WV by John Bowman 2018
One of the offshoots of boat building ‘Wheeling’s First Major Industry’ was the need for rope, and much rope was needed for the boat trade. Circa 1802 is the earliest mention of rope making in Wheeling. Michael Graham employed a few young men manufacturing rope at his ‘ropewalk’ (rope manufactory) listed as along Wheeling Creek. […]
Read MoreWHEELING MANUFACTURED PAPER AND TURNED IT INTO LEATHER ‘LEATHEROID’ INVENTED IN WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA by John Bowman 2018
WHEELING MANUFACTURED PAPER AND TURNED IT INTO LEATHER ‘LEATHEROID’ INVENTED IN WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA by John Bowman 2018 Shelves of books with their Leather Binding’s look great but you just know that many of the books bindings aren’t really leather. Faux leather book bindings, and artificial leather that we find covering many products are manufactured […]
Read MoreBOAT BUILDING WHEELING’S FIRST MAJOR INDUSTRY Book by John Bowman
BOAT BUILDING WHEELING’S FIRST MAJOR INDUSTRY With Early WHEELING History Including Maps of Streets, Businesses and Dwellings CELEBRATING WHEELING’S 250th ANNIVERSARY Book by John Bowman $19.95 Available on Amazon.com Books, and at Wheeling’s ‘Artisan Center’. The Zane Brothers Founded Wheeling in 1769. A full and complete history of this is chronicled in the first part […]
Read MoreWHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA’S First Official TOWN ‘CLOCK and BELL’
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA’S First Official TOWN ‘CLOCK and BELL’ John Bowman 2018. Source: Bowman, John “Bills of Lading Freight on Board Wheeling West Virginia” 2012 Wheeling, WV page 152, And…WHERE IS THE “CLOCK and BELL” NOW? CLOCK History: In 1835, the first official Town ‘Clock‘ of the city of Wheeling, Virginia (West Virginia) was placed […]
Read More“INLAND RIVER RECORD” 1945 Book by Way, Frederick, Jr. History by John Bowman
“INLAND RIVER RECORD” 1945 Book by Way, Frederick, Jr. History by John Bowman INLAND RIVER RECORD 1945 Way, Frederick, Jr. Steam and Diesel Vessels of the Mississippi River System in Operation as of March 1, 1945 Compiled by Frederick Way, Jr. 1945 121 River Avenue Sewickley, Pa. Sewickley Printing Shop, Inc. 148 pages 5 ½” […]
Read MoreMOUNDSVILLE FERRYBOAT “PAM” built in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1958 and named for Pam Ruble by John Bowman
PAM was built by YATES MARINE CONSTRUCTION CO. (Yates, Jack) in Wheeling, (Wheeling Island) West Virginia in 1958 as a steel-hulled single prop Diesel Ferry Towboat with a General Motors 3-71 100 hp diesel engine for Rosswell E. Ruble of Powhatan Point, Ohio, Rosswell named the boat for his daughter, Pam Ruble. Ruble owned the […]
Read MoreMOUNDSVILLE FERRYBOAT “RANDY” built in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1957 and named for Randy Ruble by John Bowman
RANDY was built by YATES MARINE CONSTRUCTION CO. (Yates, Jack and Pluckebaum, Arthur) built RANDY in Wheeling, (Wheeling Island) West Virginia in 1957 as a steel-hulled single prop Diesel Ferry Towboat with a General Motors 3-71 100 hp diesel engine for Rosswell E. Ruble of Powhatan Point, Ohio. Rosswell named the boat for his son, […]
Read MoreBOAZ DIESEL TOWBOAT built in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1957 by John Bowman
BOAZ was built by YATES MARINE CONSTRUCTION CO. (Yates, Jack and Pluckebaum, Arthur) in Wheeling, (Wheeling Island) West Virginia in 1957 as a steel-hulled twin prop Diesel towboat with two General Motors diesel engines developing 450 hp for the Monongahela and Ohio Dredging Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania length 60’ width 20’ hull depth 7’. BOAZ […]
Read MoreNORTH STAR DIESEL TOWBOAT built in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1956 by John Bowman
NORTH STAR was built by YATES MARINE CONSTRUCTION CO. (Yates, Jack and Pluckebaum, Arthur) in Wheeling, (Wheeling Island) West Virginia in 1956 as a steel-hulled single prop Diesel towboat with a General Motors 6-71 250 hp diesel engine for the North Star Transfer Co., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she was completed. Length 50’ width 12’. NORTH […]
Read MoreSISTERSVILLE FERRYBOAT “RIDES” built in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1955 by John Bowman
RIDES was built by YATES MARINE CONSTRUCTION CO. (Yates, Jack and Pluckebaum, Arthur) in Wheeling, (Wheeling Island) West Virginia in 1955 as a steel-hulled single prop Diesel ferry towboat with a 180 hp Cummins diesel engine for the Sistersville Ferry Co. which operated its ferry service from Sistersville, West Virginia to Fly, Ohio. In 1957, […]
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