Boaz

Hartford, John

picture

Boaz (Steamboat)
Towboats
Steamboat lines\n
River steamers
Coal

The Boaz was an old coal pusher built at Pittsburgh, Pa. in 1882. Her dimensions were:- 193 x 44.4 x 6.5 feet. Tonnage, gross and net, 623 tons. On February 20, 1894, when ascending the Ohio River she collided with the Belle McGowan at Green Bottom, West Virginia, descending with a tow of loaded coal barges. One coal barge in tow of the McGowan was sunk, loss $1500. The Boaz was damaged $150. She became one of the famous coal towboats between Pittsburgh and New Orleans. During the period of World War I, the long distance coal trade by way of the Ohio River was ended. The entire output from Pittsburgh was needed at home; and lower Mississippi points, including the port of New Orleans, which had seagoing vessels, were drawing their coal from Alabama, and St. Louis obtained her supplies from Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. Cincinnati was coaled from West Virginia mines up the Great Kanawha. With the wooden hull towboat era over, many of the towboats suffered ingonminous death in the boneyard. Some were dismantled; and others were placed in towing service in the south and just passed out of the picture. The Boaz was given to the wrecking crew of the bone yard at Elizabeth, Pennsylvania about 1917 - 1918 and was dismantled.

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