Jeffboat


Jeffboat was a shipyard in Jeffersonville, Indiana founded by James Howard in 1834, a builder of steamboats. The company was owned by the Howard family until it was sold leading up to World War II. Following the war, it became known as the Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Company and later changed its name to Jeffboat, the more commonly used short form of its name. The company was the largest inland shipbuilder in the United States and the second-largest builder of barges before it closed in 2018.

Origin

Jeffboat was originally established as the Howard Shipyards in 1834 by James Howard when he started his first boat, the Hyperion. The Howard family controlled the company for 107 years, building over 3,000 ships.

19th-century steamboats

The Joe Fowler is a former steamboat built at the Howard Shipyard in 1888. The sternwheeler was designed for packet service between Evansville, Indiana and Paducah, Kentucky. Joe Fowler was a United States Mail carrier, and after seven years of service, had logged over 327,000 miles and transported over 152,000 passengers without a fatal accident. In 1914, new owners replaced the steamer with high-pressure boilers desigined for the western rivers. After this time, Joe Fowler ran excursions around the Pittsburgh and Wheeling, West Virginia areas, before hosting a cruise down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and a long summer cruise from Pittsburgh to St. Paul, then back to Louisville. After 1917, it was sold, refitted to better serve excursions, and renamed Crescent.
The Emily is a former sternwheeled steamboat built at the Howard Shipyard in 1891. The single-boiler steamer began in ferry service at Kenova, West Virginia, and later operated at Wheeling, West Virginia. Emily was sold three times, starting in 1902. The third buyer was Henderson Ferry Company of Henderson, Kentucky, which renamed it the Dixie Bee Line. It burned in Henderson in 1926. After a rebuild, it ran as the ferry Ohio No. 2. In the 1930s, it was renovated for packet service, and renamed Joe Curtis, and plied the waters near Memphis until it struck ice and sunk on January 25, 1940.

20th century

The company faced persistent challenges during the Great Depression. The United States Navy bought the shipyards in 1942 and reorganized it as the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company.
During World War II, it built 123 vessels of the type known as "Landing Ship, Tank", 23 submarine chasers, and numerous other craft. Post-war, the shipyards built customized crafts, but specialized in barges and towboats. In 1957, the official name was changed to Jeffboat.
The Jeffboat yard built two nostalgic paddlewheelers during this period. In 1973, it completed Mississippi Queen steamboat, and in 1985, finished the General Jackson showboat.
Production was stopped from 1986 to 1989.

21st century

A wildcat strike shut down operations during part of 2001.
The Jeffboat yard built a third nostalgic, paddlewheeler, the City of Evansville, which was put into service as the Casino Aztar riverboat casino.
A union decertification petition was circulated in 2016, but employees voted 649 to 190 to retain Teamsters Local 89 as their union.
As of 20 June 2015, the 68-acre Jeffboat shipyard is owned by American Commercial Lines Inc., a company also based in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Mark Knoy is the CEO. In turn, Platinum Equity owns ACL, the largest inland shipbuilder in the United States, building both river barges and ocean barges.
The company laid off 278 employees in November 2017 due to a lack of production, and it closed permanently on April 23, 2018.

Ships built

Steamships built in the yard include :
NameOriginYearPowerPropulsiontonnageLengthBeamDraftOut of serviceNotes
A.D. AllenBuilt1901Single steam boilerSternwheeler125232.51929 or laterArkansas River
A.M. HallidayBuilt1903Single boiler steamCenterwheel121597.71954Steel, double-hull. Ferry. Dismantled.
A. BaldwinBuilt1905Dual boiler, steamCenterwheel12758.97.51971Steel-hull. Catamaran. Ferry.
AcadiaBuilt1860SteamSternwheeler1883571863Burned in the Civil War
AlbertaBuilt1876SteamSternwheeler107116253.5White River
AlbertaBuilt1880SteamSternwheeler15018.53.5Arkansas and White rivers
Alberta No. 3Built1884SteamSternwheeler145283.6White River
Alex PerryBuilt1891Dual boiler, steamSternwheeler149.918.53.51896Lost to fire
Alex. ScottBuilt1842Steam, six-boilersSidewheeler266348St. LouisNew Orleans
AlgiersBuilt1925Steam, dual boilersSternwheeler144557.7After 1958Dual, steel hull. Catamaran. Ferry. New Orleans.
AlineBuilt1858SteamSternwheeler125306New OrleansOpelousas. Confederate service
AlmaBuilt1900Triple-boiler, steamSternwheeler3112203651861Missouri River
Alonzo C. ChurchBuilt1893Triple-boiler steamRecess wheel597.71954Steel, double-hull. Ferry. Dismantled.
A. BaldwinBuilt1905Dual boiler, steamCenterwheel172.343.36.51914Dismantled and converted to wharf boat.
Alonzo ChildBuilt1857Steam, six boilers.Sidewheeler236387After 1863St. LouisOmaha. St. LouisNew Orleans.
AltonBuilt1906SteamSidewheeler241.1387.31918St. LouisAlton. Excursions. Lost in ice.
AmericaBuilt1898Triple-boiler, steamSternwheeler200386.51926Ouchita River. Mississippi River.
AmericaBuilt1917Steam, five boilersSidewheeler2854561930Converted wooden hull from Indiana. Lost to fire.
Andrew ChristyBuilt1897Triple-boiler, steamSidewheeler170487.4Renamed Henry Watterson
Archie P. GreenBuilt1873SteamSternwheeler1102231880White River. Sunk near Batesville, Arkansas.
Arkansas CityBuilt1882SteamSidewheeler1,2362734471896Destroyed in tornado
Ashland CityBuilt1892SteamSternwheeler120203.9After 1900NashvilleClarksville. PaducahDanville.
AssumptionBuilt1875SteamSternwheeler15135.86.51895New OrleansThibodeaux. New OrleansBayou Lafourche.
B.B.Built1899SteamSternwheelerFerry at Warsaw and Quincy
B.H. CrookeBuilt1873SteamSternwheeler151304.51880EvansvilleNashville. Dismantled.
Bayliss LeeBuilt1899SteamSternwheeler190385.8Memphis. PaducahWaterloo. MemphisVicksburg.
Bayou CityBuilt1859SteamSidewheeler165285HoustonGalveston
Belle LeeBuilt1868Eight boilers, steamSidewheeler1,2842912.48.41876Refabricated and renamed Mary Bell
Belle MemphisBuilt1866SteamSidewheeler2604071980St.LouisMemphis. Dismantled.
Belle MemphisBuilt1880Five boilers, steamSidewheeler267427.51897St. LouisMemphis. Hit snag near Chester, Illinois.
Belle of AltonBuiltSix boilers, steamSidewheeler22934.561871AltonSt. Louis. New OrleansGrand Encore. Fire.
Belle of the BendsBuilt1898Three boilers, steamSidewheeler21032.67.4VickburgGreenville. Sank and raised twice. Renamed Liberty.
Ben FranklinBuilt1869Four boilers, steamSidewheeler26137.56.11881CincinnatiMadison. Sank in 1878, but recovered.
Big SunflowerBuilt1869SteamSternwheeler125284Vicksburg. Possibly rebuilt as the Jennie Lane.
Birdie BrentBuilt1866SteamRecess wheel109111223.51887Boonville, MO. Sunk.
Black LocustBuilt1834Steam110254.5LouisvilleJeffersonville. Possibly first or second boat built at Howard.
Black LocustBuilt1847SteamRecess wheel.1061867LouisvilleJeffersonville. Ferry. Lost in ice.
Blanks CornwallBuilt1887Steam, two boilers.Sternwheeler140294.61896Yazoo and Talahatchie rivers. Lost to snag.
Blue Wing No. 2Built1850Three boilers, steamSidewheeler170150606.51862Kentucky River. Captured by the CSA and burned.
Blue Wing No. 3Built1863SteamSidewheeler158150315.7Kentucky River. New OrleansMobile. Louisville.
Bluff CityBuilt1896Four boilers, steamSternwheeler2254261897St. LouisNew Orleans. Fire at Chester, IL.
Bob BlanksBuilt1903Three boilers, steamSternwheeler1753551912New Orleans. Fire.
Bonnie LeeBuilt1875SteamSternwheeler165303.51880New Orleans and Red River. Boiler explosion.