''W. P. Snyder Jr.'', also known as ''W. H. Clingerman'', ''W. P. Snyder Jr.'' State Memorial, or ''J. L. Perry'', is a historic

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 ...

moored on the

Muskingum River The Muskingum River (Shawnee: ') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country o ...

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Mar ...

, at the Ohio River Museum. A

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

, she is the only intact, steam-driven sternwheel towboat still on the nation's river system.

Description and history

''W. P. Snyder Jr.'' is a

sternwheel A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were w ...

, steam driven,

that was originally built as the

Carnegie Steel Company Carnegie Steel Company was a steel-producing company primarily created by Andrew Carnegie and several close associates to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company was forme ...

towboat ''W. H. Clingerman'' in 1918 by Rees & Sons Company of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 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 ...

. In 1938, she was renamed ''J. L. Perry'', and in 1945 ''A-1''. In August 1945, she was sold to Crucible Steel Company of Pittsburgh, and renamed the ''W. P. Snyder Jr.'' in September 1945. She was a sister vessel of ''W. H. Colvin Jr.'', and she towed

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

on 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 ...

until being laid up on 23 September 1953, at Crucible, Pennsylvania. In the summer of 1955, the boat was given to the

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

for exhibit at the

Ohio River Museum The Ohio River Museum is a museum that interprets the history of the Ohio River. The museum is situated on the Muskingum River, near its confluence with the Ohio River, in Marietta, Ohio. Opened on March 16, 1941, the museum celebrated its 75th a ...

. ''W. P. Snyder Jr.'' was the last steamboat locking through Lock 1, on the

, before that

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

was removed. She arrived in Marietta, Ohio, with Captain Fred Way Jr. as

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

on 16 September 1955. As one of the first

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

towboats constructed, she was fitted with the prominent anti- hogging struts and cables necessary on wooden hulled stern wheelers. At the time it wasn't known if they would be needed with the steel hull construction. ''W. P. Snyder Jr.'' has been permanently moored on the

, at the Ohio River Museum. Visitors to the museum receive a guided tour of ''W. P. Snyder Jr.''. She is "the only intact, steam-driven sternwheel towboat still on the nation's river system", but was "in danger of sinking" in 2009. On 21 November 2009, ''W.P. Snyder Jr.'' was towed from Marietta to

South Point, Ohio South Point is a village in Lawrence County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. South Point straddles Perry Township and Fayette Township. The population was 3,958 at the 2010 census. South Point is a part of the Huntington- Ashland, ...

, to have her hull replaced. ''W. P. Snyder Jr.'' made her way home starting 15 September 2010 and arrived back in the Muskingum River at Marietta on 17 September 2010.

Citations

References

* **

External links

Photo of ''W. P. Snyder Jr.'' at the Ohio River Museum website
{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919) Steamboats of the United States National Historic Landmarks in Ohio Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Tugboats of the United States Tourist attractions in Washington County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Ohio Museum ships in Ohio