Ship Model, Steamboat Buckeye State

Ship Model, Steamboat Buckeye State

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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.
Object Name
model, river boat
Other Terms
model, river boat; Maritime
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.
built
United States: New York, New York
where the Buckeye State was built
United States: Pennsylvania
ship sailed on
United States: Ohio River
Physical Description
wood (overall material)
metals (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 21 in x 66 in x 16 in; 53.34 cm x 167.64 cm x 40.64 cm
ID Number
TR.322425
catalog number
322425
accession number
247839
related event
Expansion and Reform
Civil War and Reconstruction
See more items in
Work and Industry: Maritime
Advertising
Industry & Manufacturing
Transportation
On the Water exhibit
Exhibition
On the Water
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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Comments

I found missing several important bits of information that I would like to know. The dimensions of the model are given, but not the scale of the model. The size of the riverboat itself are not given, and can't be calculated from the model. The fastest time for the trip from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh is given, but not the typical travel time, with all 24 stops, which the usual traveler would experience. No reason was given for why the boat was decommissioned in 1857 when only the eight year old. Was it worn out, or made obsolete by a railroad?

Pat LaFollette

Tue, 2020-06-09 09:18

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