The ''Twilight'' was an American sternwheeler

towboat A pusher, pusher craft, pusher boat, pusher tug, or towboat, is a boat designed for pushing barges or car floats. In the United States, the industries that use these vessels refer to them as towboats. These vessels are characterized by a squar ...

that was built in 1864 in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Initially named as the ''Traveler'', she was rebuilt in 1882 by Lew Clark and renamed as the ''Twilight''. She was then renamed again in May 1927 as the ''J. H. McCrady''. This sternwheeler was also nicknamed "The Cat with Nine Lives" because she was involved in so many accidents.

Incidents and activities

* May 13, 1891 – Burned with two other vessels at the base of Ferry Street in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

* April 1898 – Sunk after striking the 43rd Street bridge in Pittsburgh, pushing its hog chain braces through the hull * September 1902 – Involved in a collision with the in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, sinking that vessel * December 3, 1905 – Sunk after running over Lock 2 of the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in North Cen ...

during a flood * February 1909 – Engineer James A. Hornbake drowned near

Duquesne, Pennsylvania Duquesne ( ) is a city along the Monongahela River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 5,254 at the 2020 census. History The city of Duquesne was settled in 1789 and incor ...

* September 27, 1913 – ''Twilight'' took part in a parade celebrating Allegheny County, Pennsylvania's 125th anniversary. The parade consisted of 30 steamboats which sailed from

Monongahela Wharf The Monongahela Wharf was the key wharf of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, on the Monongahela River. It was in use from the late 19th century until the dam was built in the Ohio river, causing it to be underwater. It was used by steamb ...

down the Ohio to the Davis Island Dam. The boats in line were the parade flagship ''Steel City'' (formerly the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati packet ''Virginia''), ''City of Parkersburg'', ''Charles Brown'', ''Alice Brown'', ''Exporter'', ''Sam Brown'', ''Boaz'', ''Raymond Horner'', ''Swan'', ''Sunshine'', ''I. C. Woodward'', ''Cruiser'', ''Volunteer'', ''A. R. Budd'', ''J. C. Risher'', ''Clyde'', ''Rival'', ''Voyager'', ''Jim Brown'', ''Rover'', ''Charlie Clarke'', ''Robt. J. Jenkins'', ''Slipper'', ''Bertha'', ''Midland'', ''Sam Barnum'', ''Cadet'', ''Carbon'', ''Twilight'', and ''Troubadour''. * October 7, 1917 – Sunk near Braddock, Pennsylvania, after nosing into the water while traveling at full speed * 1918 – Accidentally destroyed the 16th Street Bridge (Mechanics Bridge) when sparks from its

funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...

set the wooden structure on fire * November 15, 1920 – Caught fire and was severely damaged near Pittsburgh * January 17, 1921 – Sunk near 31st Street in Pittsburgh

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Twilight (ship, 1864) 1864 ships Paddle steamers of the United States Riverboats Ships built in Pennsylvania Steamboats of the Monongahela River Towboats