First Fulton boat built in America illustration   Save
Printed Material
Description: First Fulton boat built in America, from "The American Pioneer," ca. 1800-1809. Robert Fulton (1765-1815) was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was an accomplished artist. He moved on to designing ships for navies, including the British, French, and Americans, who found his submarine design very useful. He eventually settled on steamboats and designed the Clermont, the first commercially-viable steamboat (others had dreamed of it before, but his was the only design to be economical enough). He also constructed the first steamboat to travel on the Ohio River, known as the New Orleans. His work revolutionized water traffic, helping to move Ohioans from a subsistence to a commercial economy. "The American Pioneer" was described as "a monthly periodical devoted to the objects of the Logan Historical Society, or to collecting and publishing sketches relative to the early settlement and successive improvement of the country." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04040
Subjects: Steamboats; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development; Rivers--Ohio
Places: Printed Material