Transportation

Americans have always been a people on the move—on rails, roads, and waterways (for travel through the air, visit the National Air and Space Museum). In the transportation collections, railroad objects range from tools, tracks, and many train models to the massive 1401, a 280-ton locomotive built in 1926. Road vehicles include coaches, buggies, wagons, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and automobiles—from the days before the Model T to modern race cars. The accessories of travel are part of the collections, too, from streetlights, gas pumps, and traffic signals to goggles and overcoats.

In the maritime collections, more than 7,000 design plans and scores of ship models show the evolution of sailing ships and other vessels. Other items range from scrimshaw, photographs, and marine paintings to life jackets from the Titanic.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, many people believed that the automobile offered great potential as a practical means of transportation. Once expensive toys, automobiles were becoming faster and more powerful, but several obstacles hindered their widespread use.
Description
At the dawn of the twentieth century, many people believed that the automobile offered great potential as a practical means of transportation. Once expensive toys, automobiles were becoming faster and more powerful, but several obstacles hindered their widespread use. One of the most visible barriers was the extreme difficulty of driving long distances, particularly in the West with its rugged terrain and lack of improved roads. After two attempts by other motorists, H. Nelson Jackson, a physician from Burlington, Vermont, broke the cross-country barrier through sheer determination and perseverance. In the spring and summer of 1903, Jackson and his mechanic, Sewall Crocker, drove this 1903 Winton touring car from San Francisco to New York City. The trip took 64 days, including numerous delays while the two men waited for parts or paused to hoist the Winton up and over a gully. Their achievement changed the way Americans thought about long-distance automobile travel. It now seemed possible -- even desirable -- to move about the country in cars instead of trains. The pioneering 1903 trip inspired two rival teams of motorists, turning the much-publicized journey into a race. Within ten years there were plans for a coast-to-coast highway. By the late 1910s and early 1920s, hordes of vacationing autocampers with touring cars and tents ushered in the era of transcontinental motoring.
date made
1903
contributor
Firestone, Jr., Harvey S.
user
Crocker, Sewall K.
maker
Winton Engine Company
ID Number
TR.312831.01
catalog number
312831
accession number
167685
The Homer P. Snyder Manufacturing Company of Little Falls, New York expanded its product line from knitting mill machinery to bicycles in 1898 during the safety bicycle craze. The company remained a leading manufacturer of bicycles in the early twentieth century.
Description
The Homer P. Snyder Manufacturing Company of Little Falls, New York expanded its product line from knitting mill machinery to bicycles in 1898 during the safety bicycle craze. The company remained a leading manufacturer of bicycles in the early twentieth century. Motorcycles offered an appealing transition from bicycles to motorized personal mobility; Schwinn, one of the largest bicycle manufacturers, acquired Excelsior motorcycles in 1911 and Henderson motorcycles in 1917 to exploit the demand. In the late teens and twenties, some manufacturers even designed bicycles that resembled motorcycles to appeal to boys. This 1927 Snyder bike resembles a contemporary motorcycle; it has a tool box shaped like a gasoline tank, an electric headlight with battery compartment, and a luggage rack. Making bicycles look like motor vehicles became a long-lasting trend. From the 1930s to the 1960s, headlights and imitation gasoline tanks on some bicycles had shapes that suggested streamlined automobiles or airplanes, exciting the imagination of children.
date made
1927
maker
Homer P. Snyder Mfg. Co., Inc.
ID Number
TR.309382.01
catalog number
309382
accession number
99530
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. This model was likely built around then. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship.
Description
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. This model was likely built around then. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled. This model came to the Smithsonian from the New York City offices of the United States Lines in 1952.
date made
ca 1914
used date
1914-1938
ID Number
TR.314250
catalog number
314250
accession number
196508
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1894
ID Number
TR.181658 [dup1]
catalog number
181658
accession number
35051
This elegant silver vase was presented to Willard A. Smith, Chief of the Department of Transportation exhibits at the World’s Colombian Exposition in 1893. The Exposition was held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s “discovery” of America.
Description
This elegant silver vase was presented to Willard A. Smith, Chief of the Department of Transportation exhibits at the World’s Colombian Exposition in 1893. The Exposition was held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s “discovery” of America. The Exposition was a great success as a world’s fair, and demonstrated to the international community that Chicago had recovered from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Presenting silver objects has always been a means of expressing gratitude and acknowledging deeds and accomplishments in American culture. It took Tiffany & Co. six months to construct this costly Art Nouveau style vase. Its decoration takes the form of the Transportation Building. The distinct semi-circular arches are the work of architect James Sullivan, who designed the building that housed the Department of Transportation exhibits. Medallions circling the vase celebrate the progress in the modes of land and water transportation, while representations of the Department of Transportation exhibitions adorn the vase as well.
Date made
1894
user
Smith, Willard A.
maker
Tiffany & Co.
ID Number
DL.63.821
catalog number
63.821
63.281
accession number
245502
This model accompanied Theodore R. Timby’s patent application for "a new and useful Apparatus for Raising Sunken Vessels and other Submerged Bodies" that received patent number 2,572 on April 21,1842.
Description
This model accompanied Theodore R. Timby’s patent application for "a new and useful Apparatus for Raising Sunken Vessels and other Submerged Bodies" that received patent number 2,572 on April 21,
1842. The device is comprised of a pump that supplies air though a wire- reinforced leather hose to a submerged chamber, which inflates to lift a submerged item to the surface. Timby did not claim to invent the use of an air chamber to provide lift; his innovation was in shaping his "air vessel" like an inverted cone with a dome on top. Furthermore, because the object to be raised would be secured to a ring on the air chamber's lower end, he prevented the weight of the object from deforming the chamber or ripping the ring loose by suspending the ring from chains run up and over the body of the chamber. The air vessel was to be constructed of thin copper, as the model is. The pump, although beautifully modeled, was to be simply an "ordinary air pump," and did not incorporate any innovations by Timby.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1842
patent date
1842-04-21
inventor
Timby, Theodore R.
ID Number
TR.308543
accession number
89797
catalog number
308543
patent number
2,572
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1923
date used
1936 to 1960s
maker
Beetleware Corporation
ID Number
1984.0331.11
accession number
1984.0331
catalog number
1984.0331.11
patent number
1458543
This little book (and a second, nearly identical one from 1924 in the Smithsonian collections) was published by the Diary Publishing Corporation of New York City for distribution by the United States Lines to its passengers on the Leviathan.
Description
This little book (and a second, nearly identical one from 1924 in the Smithsonian collections) was published by the Diary Publishing Corporation of New York City for distribution by the United States Lines to its passengers on the Leviathan. Similar books were common on many transatlantic passenger ships.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1926
used date
1926
ID Number
1991.0856.21
catalog number
1991.0856.21
accession number
1991.0856
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1923
date used
1936 to 1960s
maker
Beetleware Corporation
ID Number
1984.0331.04
accession number
1984.0331
catalog number
1984.0331.04
This key opened the outside door to the Leviathan's kennel, a small wood shed on the aft boat deck in her first-class accommodation.The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914.
Description
This key opened the outside door to the Leviathan's kennel, a small wood shed on the aft boat deck in her first-class accommodation.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1923
used date
1923-1938
ID Number
1991.0856.27
catalog number
1991.0856.27
accession number
1991.0856
This model represents the twin-screw turbo-electric steamer S. S. California built to 1/8" scale. It has two stacks, a black hull, red bottom paint, and white superstructure.
Description
This model represents the twin-screw turbo-electric steamer S. S. California built to 1/8" scale. It has two stacks, a black hull, red bottom paint, and white superstructure. The steamship California was built by the Newport News Shipbuilding Company, in Virginia, for the Panama Pacific Line. At her launching in 1928, the California was the largest America-built liner and the world's largest commercial vessel with electric propulsion. The California was built especially for service through the Panama Canal on the run between New York and San Francisco, with stops at intermediate ports. With a speed of 21-3/4 miles an hour, the California was advertised to reach California in 13 days, two days faster than usual. In 1937 the vessel was sold to the United States Maritime Commission and rebuilt for service between the U.S. and South America. Renamed Uruguay, the ship ran between New York and Buenos Aires until 1942 when it was converted to a troop transport for the War Shipping Administration. After the war the Uruguay returned to service and in 1964 was broken up in New Jersey. This model was given to the Smithsonian in 1952.
Date made
1928
used date
1928-1964
ID Number
TR.314251
catalog number
314251
accession number
196508
This telegraph was used to communicate speed and direction orders from the wheelhouse of the ocean liner Leviathan to one of its engine rooms.
Description
This telegraph was used to communicate speed and direction orders from the wheelhouse of the ocean liner Leviathan to one of its engine rooms. Most modern ships have a throttle, but for steamers it was necessary for the pilot to contact the engine room with instructions for the engineer that were relayed to the boilermen. This telegraph would signal full, half, slow, dead slow, finished with engine, and stop—both astern and ahead.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1923
used date
1923-1938
ID Number
1991.0856.40
catalog number
1991.0856.40
accession number
1991.0856
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1923
date used
1936 to 1960s
maker
Beetleware Corporation
ID Number
1984.0331.06
accession number
1984.0331
catalog number
1984.0331.06
Tootle was written by Gertrude Crampton with illustrations by Tibor Gergely, published by Golden Press in New York, New York, in 1945, 25th reprint in 1971.Born in Budapest, Hungary into a middle-class Jewish family, Tibor Gergely (1900-1978) was captivated by art and culture at
Description (Brief)

Tootle was written by Gertrude Crampton with illustrations by Tibor Gergely, published by Golden Press in New York, New York, in 1945, 25th reprint in 1971.

Born in Budapest, Hungary into a middle-class Jewish family, Tibor Gergely (1900-1978) was captivated by art and culture at a young age. Known as a graphic illustrator and a caricature artist, Gergely’s early works documented Jewish life before the rise of Hitler. By 1939 the political situation in Europe was dire, and Gergely and his wife immigrated to America. They settled in New York and his love affair with the city never waned. He was enchanted with his new life in a postwar New York that included skyscrapers, rushing traffic and the excitement of life in the big city.

By 1940 Gergely was working for the American Artists and Writers Guild and became a popular illustrator for Little Golden Books, providing drawings for more than seventy books, including illustrations for The Taxi that Hurried, Make Way for the Thruway, Five Little Firemen and Tootle. His portrayals of America's rapidly expanding transportation systems and the recognition of public servants foretold the dramatic social and cultural events that would impact American society in the 1950s.

Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1945
1971
maker
Little Golden Books
ID Number
1992.0634.002
accession number
1992.0634
catalog number
1992.0634.002
This butter dish, substantially similar to another one from Leviathan in the Smithsonian's collections (1991.0856.37), is decorated with the emblem adopted by the new owners of the United States Lines in 1929.The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamb
Description
This butter dish, substantially similar to another one from Leviathan in the Smithsonian's collections (1991.0856.37), is decorated with the emblem adopted by the new owners of the United States Lines in 1929.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1929
used date
1929-1931
maker
International Silver Company
ID Number
1991.0856.38
catalog number
1991.0856.38
accession number
1991.0856
This is the original builder’s half hull model of the famous ship Young America, constructed by the renowned shipbuilder William Webb in 1852/53 at his New York shipyard.
Description
This is the original builder’s half hull model of the famous ship Young America, constructed by the renowned shipbuilder William Webb in 1852/53 at his New York shipyard. Measuring 243 feet long on deck and 1,961 tons, the Young America was an extreme clipper, characterized by a sharp bow and long, narrow hull. Constructed lightly for speed and commonly sailing the harsh waters of Cape Horn off the southern tip of South America with crews of up to 100 men, clippers often lasted only about ten years before being sold to foreign owners.
Costing $140,000 to build, the Young America set a number of speed records. It sailed from New York to San Francisco 20 times, averaging 118 days per trip. Its reputation for strength and speed earned high freight rates—its maiden voyage from New York to San Francisco earned $86,400. The clipper traded mainly between Liverpool, New York and San Francisco, but also sailed to China, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, the Philippines, Mauritius and other countries. After a very long and profitable 30-year career, the Young America was sold to Austrian owners in 1883 and renamed the Miroslav. In February 1886, the ship cleared Delaware for a trading voyage and was never seen again.
Half hull models were the first step in the construction of a ship. They were carved out of horizontal strips of wood known as lifts, and only one side was needed since ships are symmetrical. After a model was approved, its lines were taken (measured) and it was disassembled. Then the lines were lofted, or drawn at full scale on the floor. The actual ship’s frames were cut to fit the lines on the floor and then set in place along the keel during the construction process. Sometimes the models were discarded or even burned as firewood after use, but many original examples are preserved today.
Date made
1853
sold and renamed
1883
ship disappeared after setting sail from Delaware
1886
maker
Webb, William H.
ID Number
TR.160135
catalog number
160135
accession number
15059
Cyclecars were small, inexpensive automobiles that resembled a cross between a car and a motorcycle. For a brief period in the mid-1910s, cyclecar enthusiasts believed that this type of vehicle offered the promise of personal mobility for the masses.
Description
Cyclecars were small, inexpensive automobiles that resembled a cross between a car and a motorcycle. For a brief period in the mid-1910s, cyclecar enthusiasts believed that this type of vehicle offered the promise of personal mobility for the masses. The two-passenger 1914 Twombly cyclecar cost $395, compared with $450 for a 1914 Ford Model T runabout. Its manufacturer, W. Irving TwThe famous factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania was not the original location of Milton Snavely Hershey's candy-making enterprise. M.S. Hershey had attempted a number of business ventures in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago before settling back in his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the early 1890s, and opening a caramel candy making company. Twombly, was an airplane and automobile enthusiast who was attracted to the cyclecar fad. He established the Twombly Car Corporation in New York City in 1913 and served as a director of the Cyclecar Manufacturers National Association. Twombly claimed that his 1914 Light Underslung model could run at speeds up to 50 miles per hour and could travel 40 miles on a gallon of gasoline. Cyclecars attracted an avid following for about two years (1913-1915), but their usefulness was limited by weak, inefficient mechanical systems. Meanwhile the price of a Ford Model T continued to drop because of Ford's mass production methods. Soon it became evident that the Ford Model T fit the description of "a car for the masses" better than anything else on the road, and cyclecar sales declined. By 1915 Twombly's company was bankrupt.
The long, narrow body of the 1914 Twombly cyclecar held a driver and one passenger seated behind the driver. The wheelbase is 100 inches, and the tread is only 38 inches. The four-cylinder, 15-horsepower engine is water-cooled; most cyclecars had air-cooled engines. Friction transmission and chain drive provided power to the rear wheels. The Twombly cyclecar weighs only 700 pounds.
The cyclecar craze of the mid-1910s was an attempt to democratize automobile ownership by manufacturing cars that were smaller, less expensive, and more economical to maintain and operate than standard touring cars and runabouts. One headline about the advent of cyclecars proclaimed, "Poor Man's Auto is Here at Last." Scores of companies built and sold two-passenger cars with belt drive or chain drive transmission. Advocates claimed that a cyclecar was better suited to muddy or rutted roads because of its light weight and narrow profile. Some cyclecars, including Twombly, were so narrow that they had tandem seating (one seat behind the other). Unorthodox mechanical features installed on cyclecars included wooden brakes, friction transmission, and an air-cooled engine placed in the rear, but these systems did not work well. Soon it became apparent that the cyclecar was not a viable solution to personal transportation needs and could not compete with the mass-market Ford Model T. Despite its ultimate failure, the cyclecar fad reflects intense interest in the promise of motorized mobility and a quixotic, grass-roots effort to build small cars that were equal to standard production cars at a fraction of the cost.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1914
maker
Twombly Car Corporation
ID Number
1980.0558.01
accession number
1980.0558
catalog number
1980.0558.01
accession number
1980.0058
William Van Anden of Poughkeepsie, New York was granted patent no. 88238 on March 23, 1869, covering "improvement in velocipedes." This improvement consisted of a "ratchet device" or free-wheeling unit in the hub of the front wheel.
Description
William Van Anden of Poughkeepsie, New York was granted patent no. 88238 on March 23, 1869, covering "improvement in velocipedes." This improvement consisted of a "ratchet device" or free-wheeling unit in the hub of the front wheel. This improvement, well ahead of its time, enables the rider's feet to remain motionless while the velocipede continues to move by momentum, as will a bicycle equipped with a coaster brake. Use of the device is optional, however, for the movement of a small plunger in the hub joins the pedal cranks fast to the axle, as in the conventional velocipede.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1869
ID Number
TR.310206
catalog number
310206
accession number
112749
Boucher-Lewis Precision Models, Inc., built this ¼ inch model from Smithsonian plans in 1965. The model shows the vessel fitted out for work, with a derrick for lifting heavy material just forward of the pilot house.
Description
Boucher-Lewis Precision Models, Inc., built this ¼ inch model from Smithsonian plans in 1965. The model shows the vessel fitted out for work, with a derrick for lifting heavy material just forward of the pilot house. The New Jersey Central logo is shown in a red circle on the single stack.
The steam harbor lighter Mauch Chunk was built in 1912 by Harlan and Hollingsworth in Wilmington, Delaware. It was 118' long, with a beam of 31' 6", and a depth of 12' 9". It was operated by the Central Railroad of New Jersey for general harbor service in the New York area. The derrick's lifting capacity was 12 tons.
date made
1912
used date
1912
maker
Boucher-Lewis Precision Models, Inc.
ID Number
TR.325516
catalog number
325516
accession number
260197
The Luckenbach Line donated this 1/4" scale model to the Smithsonian in 1967. A portion of the model's starboard hull is cut away, revealing the ship's cargo holds packed with barrels, sacks, lumber, boxes, and coal.
Description
The Luckenbach Line donated this 1/4" scale model to the Smithsonian in 1967. A portion of the model's starboard hull is cut away, revealing the ship's cargo holds packed with barrels, sacks, lumber, boxes, and coal. The engine room, bridge, crew's quarters, and passenger accommodations are also visible. The deck of the model includes winches, derricks, masts and booms for cargo handling. The single stack is painted black and displays a white "L" on a red band, the insignia of the Luckenbach Steamship Company. On the port side of the hull the name "Luckenbach Line" appears in large white letters.
The steamship Lewis Luckenbach was built in 1919 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., in Quincy, Massachusetts. Its dimensions were 496.2 feet long, 68.2 feet beam, and 37.2 feet depth. This was the second steamship named for the founder of the Luckenbach Line, the first having been built in 1903. With its sister ship, the Andrea Luckenbach, the second Lewis Luckenbach joined the line's fleet of intercoastal freighters on runs between New York and California. The ship could carry over 700 carloads of freight in its massive holds. Accommodations were modest compared to passenger liners, but the rates for "travel by freighter" were affordable at between $215 and $255 for roundtrip passage between Seattle and Brooklyn, NY, in 1936. During World War II the ship was converted to an Army hospital ship and renamed Louis A. Milne, for the surgeon who served New York's Port of Embarkation from 1937 to 1943. The vessel was scrapped in 1958.
date made
1919
used date
1919-1958
ID Number
TR.327977
catalog number
327977
accession number
272605
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1923
date used
1936 to 1960s
maker
Beetleware Corporation
ID Number
1984.0331.09
accession number
1984.0331
catalog number
1984.0331.09
Silver plate with stamped shield of stars and stripes in the plate’s bowl. Marked “International Silver Company” on bottom.The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914.
Description
Silver plate with stamped shield of stars and stripes in the plate’s bowl. Marked “International Silver Company” on bottom.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1923
used date
1923-1929
maker
International Silver Company
ID Number
1991.0856.37
catalog number
1991.0856.37
accession number
1991.0856
The Buckeye State was built at Shousetown, Pa., south of Pittsburgh. In 1849 the hull was completed and hauled up the Ohio River to Pittsburgh to be finished. Under the supervision of David Holmes, the Buckeye State was completed in February 1850.
Description
The Buckeye State was built at Shousetown, Pa., south of Pittsburgh. In 1849 the hull was completed and hauled up the Ohio River to Pittsburgh to be finished. Under the supervision of David Holmes, the Buckeye State was completed in February 1850. It was owned and operated by the Pittsburgh & Cincinnati Packet Line, which ran it regularly on the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The company owned six or seven steamers at a time, and ran daily departures between the two cities. By the mid-1840s the Pittsburgh & Cincinnati Packet Line was praised by a Pittsburgh newspaper editor as “the greatest convenience . . . ever afforded the citizens on the banks of the Upper Ohio.”
On May 1, 1850 the Buckeye State left Cincinnati for Pittsburgh and completed the trip in a record 43 hours. Under Capt. Sam Dean, the steamer made 24 stops along the route, needing coal once and wood three times. One hundred years later, the Buckeye State still held the record for the fastest trip ever made by a steamboat between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
In 1851, showman P. T. Barnum organized a race between the Buckeye State and the Messenger No. 2 as a publicity stunt to advertise Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind’s American tour. Steamboat racing was growing in popularity, and so a race was the perfect promotion. Although Lind and Barnum were aboard the Messenger No. 2, the Buckeye State won the race. The Buckeye State continued its service up and down the Ohio for six more years until it was retired and dismantled in 1857.
date made
1963
construction completed on Buckeye State
1850-02
Buckeye State retired
1857
participated in a steamboat race
1857
owned and operated by
Pittsburgh & Cincinnati Packet Line
supervised construction of Buckeye State
Holmes, David
captain of the Buckeye State
Dean, Sam
maker
Boucher-Lewis Precision Models, Inc.
ID Number
TR.322425
catalog number
322425
accession number
247839
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1923
date used
1936 to 1960s
maker
Beetleware Corporation
ID Number
1984.0331.10
accession number
1984.0331
catalog number
1984.0331.10

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.