New Waves of Business
Within a decade, Ohio Valley residents had fully embraced novelty of the steamboat. By 1830, the number of steamers plying western waters had increased at an almost exponential rate. Steam engines “working like mad” not only drove the boats up and down the rivers but also drove the development of the country. Better engines and boilers, improved designs for boats, and navigational improvements all facilitated the boom.
In late 1830, the Louisville and Portland Canal opened. It represented a major accomplishment, allowing a more regular and reliable route around the Falls of the Ohio. Area boosters had proposed a canal to bypass the Falls in the early 1800s but its cost and regional rivalries prevented its completion for over twenty-five years.
Government and private publications document the steamboat’s growth and consequent impact. In the year after the canal’s opening, 406 steamboats passed through it. By 1837, just six years later, the number had grown to 1,501 steamboats (with a number making multiple trips). In its 1838-1839 edition, the Louisville Directory listed 374 steamboats by name operating on western waters. The 1851 annual report of the Louisville and Portland Canal Company (left) included the number of boats and amount of tonnage that passed through the canal during the previous year.
Business and industry took advantage of the opportunities provided by the steamboat. Entrepreneurs established new companies or adapted existing ones to fill the needs created by the boats. Records of the Jefferson Foundry and Steam Engine Manufactory, Buckner and Hughes, Robert Buckner, Thomas Bohannon, and others highlight this aspect of the industry. Newspapers ran regular listings of boat schedules and news.
The 1838-1839 Louisville Directory documents in part the importance of steamboats to the area’s economy; from commission merchant J. C. Buckles’ steamboat specific ad to Thomas M’Grain’s and Ebenezer Lord’s ads mentioning boat work, numerous businesses relied on steamboats.
Entire publications, including Conclin’s New River Guide, The Western Pilot, and Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters, documented steamboats and river travel. Some steamboats, such as the Richmond, even published their own onboard newspapers. Printers regularly accepted orders from the boats, producing broadside advertisements, menus, tickets, and more.