- Flatboat
A Flatboat is a rectangular boat with a flat bottom and square ends used to transport
freight and passengers on inlandwaterway s. The flatboat could be any size but, essentially, it is a large, sturdy tub with a hull that displaces water and so floats in the water; therefore, the flatboat is not araft , which floats on the water. A flatboat was almost always a one-way vessel, and was usually dismantled for lumber when it reached its downstream destination. Varieties of flatboat in the early 19th century included the mid-range broadhorn and Kentucky boat, and the longer-range New Orleans boat, which was fully covered. An average of 3,000 flatboats descended theOhio River each year between 1810 and 1820.Abraham Lincoln twice piloted a flatboat carrying produce toNew Orleans , fromIndiana in 1828 and fromIllinois in 1831.The flatboat continued in use even when the
steamboat gained popularity because of the lower costs of building and of transport. Dams did away with the flatboat because the boats (having no mechanical power) could not be propelled into the locks.See also
*
Narrowboat
*Horse-drawn boat References
*cite book|title=Warren County, Ohio and Beyond|last=Bogan|first=Dallas|year=1979|page=162
External links
* [http://crh.choate.edu/english/salot/Jolly%20Flatboatmen.jpgGeorge Caleb Bingham "Jolly Flatboatmen" c. 1857]
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