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AUSTIN
TEXAS LAKE STEAMBOAT BEN HUR. ca. 1890s albumen image , 6” x 8
¼” on 6 1/2" x 9" mount. Side of sidewheeler steamboat reads
“Lake Navigation Co. Ben Hur“Photographer’s backmark of S.B. Hill
Photographer Austin, Tex.(and in pencil - Steamer built by Captain Albian
Shepard Austin, Texas. Fine condition. (Cft.20)$575.
The steamboat Ben Hur was a three-story sidewheeler, provided cruises , along with dinner, dancing and vaudeville shows, in Lake McDonald , outside Austin, Tex. Lake McDonald was the result of the original Austin Dam, which was completed in 1893. It was the first dam built across the Colorado River and – according to the press hype of the day – the largest dam in the world. By today's standards, the dam was unremarkable – a wall of granite and limestone, 65 feet high and 1,100 feet long, The city built a rail line, with electric trolley cars, to transport residents to the dam and its reservoir, Lake McDonald, named after the mayor. (It is now Lake Austin.). Lake McDonald became a popular attraction. Beside The excursion cruises, other attractions included a giant diving tower at the Ben Hur wharf and a grandstand and pavilion for musical performances. The Austin Dam was plagued by problems from the start. The structure was built on a fault line that allowed water to seep. Silt had filled nearly half the lake by February 1900. And the dam's design failed to accommodate the force that could be created by a large volume of water. All of this set up the dam for its fatal blow when a five-inch rain fell in the Austin area on April 6, 1900, along with heavy rains in the Hill Country. With no upstream dams to capture runoff, the Austin Dam was defenseless against the resulting flood wave, , and by April 7, the floodwaters crested at 11 feet atop the dam before it disintegrated, with two 250-foot sections – almost half the dam – breaking away. The flood also damaged a power house, drowning five workers, and destroyed the Ben Hur.
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YAZOO
RIVER STEAMBOAT KATIE ROBBINS. Ca. 1880s albumen image , 7
1/4” x 9. Great view of the Katie Robbins steaming with a load o cotton.
No photographer’s backmark of S.B. Hill Some minor soiling , overall
fine condition. A very appealing image. (Cft.21); $500.The Katie Robbins went down from a collision on the Yazoo Rive with a barge in 1890. See "Steamboats and the Cotton Economy: River Trade in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta" By Harry P. Owens for further reading. |
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SIDEWHEELER
CITY OF LAWRENCE. Ca. 1880's albumen image, 11" x 14
1/2" on a 14" x 17" mount. Beautiful broadside full of the
deep draft steamboat. A bit of age toning on mount, small amount of
lifting of image b/l corner, along with minor chipping on edge. Overall
VG-fine cond. (Tr. 704); $650.Built in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1867, the sidewheel paddle steamer City of Lawrence was one of a fleet of steamers owned by companies that were or became subsidiaries of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. City of Lawrence was the first iron-hulled steamer on the Sound. She was part of the Norwich Line (Norwich & New York Transportation Company) that connected New York and New England cities such as Worcester and Boston via coordinated water-rail transport. The rail-steamer terminal is visible behind the City of Lawrence, and rail cars can be seen on the right. The City of Lawrence was wrecked at New London in 1907. |
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STERNWHEELER
- W.C. BRADLEY. Ca. 1900 gelatin image, 6 1/4" x 8 1/4"
on 10" x 12" mount. Handsome broadside full of this
shallow draft steamboat. Some random spots of soiling, some wear to mount
edges, overall Fine cond. (Tr. 7134); $400.W.C. Bradley Chattahoochee River in Georgia . The sternwheeler was commissioned in 1898 and worked the Chattahoochee River .(From its source in the Blue Ridge Mountains the Chattahoochee River flows southwesterly to Atlanta , eventually turns due south to form the southern half of the Georgia/Alabama state line, it flows by Columbus, Georgia). She sank at Aspalaga (Florida) in 1919. The Bradley measured 163 feet long by 26.1 feet wide, was built in Columbus, Ga. A Georgia newspaper of the day gave this description of the sternwheeler: “She is one of the neatest and trimmest craft afloat; and has a flat bottom and draws very little water. She is constructed with neat boiler decks, forward and aft, and has an immense carrying capacity for freight, as well as accommodation for quite a number of passengers.” The Bradley had cabins and a dining salon on the second tier, which was called the sun deck. The third deck, known as the Texas, served the same purpose as the dome on an observation railroad car. At the top was the pilot house, where the captain had an unobstructed view of the river. The craft was owned by the Merchants’ and Planters’ Steamboat Co., of which M.W. Kelly was president and W.C. Bradley served as general manager. The company owned another riverboat known as the Queen City. Along with travelers, riverboats carried a variety of freight including bales of cotton, barrels of tar and turpentine, fertilizer, flour and even bee hives. |
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Bill of Ladings. Bill of lading are documents between the shipper of a particular good and the carrier detailing the type, quantity and destination of the good being carried. The bill of lading also serves as a receipt of shipment when the good is delivered to the predetermined destination.
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Canals
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