| Chesapeake Steamboats Vanished Fleet Contributor(s): Holly, David C. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0870334557 ISBN-13: 9780870334559 Publisher: Schiffer Publishing OUR PRICE: $26.96 Product Type: Hardcover Published: July 2009 Annotation: In eight engaging chapters, this book portrays the steamboat era (1813-1963) on the Chesapeake, which matched in glamour and excitement the steamboats' history on the Mississippi. The book begins with the building of the first steamboat on the Bay in the shadow of the bitter struggle between Stevens, Livingston, Fulton, and Latrobe, among others, over monopoly on the Delaware and Chesapeake. Some of the accepted history on the origin of the first Bay steamboat is called into question. The chapters continue with stories of the genius of early engine builders, the legends arising from dramatic steamboat disasters, spirited adventures of the Civil War (including the mystery of the "French lady spy"), the romance of steamboat excursions and resorts, the personalities of many steamboats and their masters, the Pennsylvania Railroad's near achievement of monopoly on the Bay, and the denouement when trucks and automobiles eclipsed the role of the steamboat. An appendix details the workings of early steamboat engines. Other appendices provide data on steamboats discussed in the text and maps of the region. The narratives extend the history of the era from that included in other books on the topic. The book, above all, is an enthusiastic, nostalgic, and thoroughly readable exposition of a bygone era and a "vanished fleet". |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Transportation | Ships & Shipbuilding - History |
| Dewey: 387.204 |
| LCCN: 94026450 |
| Physical Information: 1.06" H x 6.3" W x 9.31" (1.57 lbs) 320 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Mid-Atlantic - Geographic Orientation - Maryland |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book portrays the steamboat era on the Chesapeake (1813 "1963), which matched the glamour and excitement of the steamboats on the Mississippi. The book begins with the building of the first steamboat on the bay, in the shadow of a bitter struggle over a monopoly on the Delaware and the Chesapeake. It continues with stories of the genius of early engine builders, the legends arising from dramatic steamboat disasters, spirited adventures of the Civil War, the excitement of steamboat excursions and resorts, the personalities of many steamboats and their masters, the railroad's near achievement of a monopoly on the bay, and the denouement when trucks and automobiles eclipsed the role of the steamboat. Running through David Holly's Chesapeake Steamboats: Vanished Fleet is a theme of ghostliness. He is clearly enchanted by the memories of the steamboats and conveys aptly the excitement of the steamboat era. With vivid descriptions he sets the scene for his narration of the history of the steamboat on the Chesapeake. A particular highlight is the account of the steamer Columbus, which was built in 1828 and burned and sank in 1850 near the mouth of the Potomac River. In the early 1990s a project was mounted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other organizations to recover artifacts from the wreck. Diving to a depth of sixty feet, at times in near darkness, the archeological team resurrected important components of the ship's crosshead engine--the only one known to exist. David Holly's narrative of the Columbus, his schematic of its engine extrapolated from recovered artifacts and his description of the engine's operation record this important contribution to maritime history. His absorbing tales of the steamboat's place in the life of the Chesapeake may stand as a legacy in the region and the country's history. |