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Steamboat fire at Keokuk Landing
Title
Steamboat fire at Keokuk Landing
Date
1853-06-18
Description
Portrait of Thomas H. Benton. Text documents his views concerning the Pacific Railroad.
High School, Olive Street
Title
High School, Olive Street
Description
Printed illustration of horse drawn carriage on Olive Street in St. Louis, Missouri. A large high school can be seen in the background. The building was built in 1855 in the Lucas Place neighborhood.
A View of Fort Armstrong
Title
A View of Fort Armstrong
Date
1853
Description
A view of Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, Mississippi River. Probably 1853.
Great Crevasse of the Mississippi
Title
Great Crevasse of the Mississippi
Date
1858-06-05
Description
The great crevasse of the Mississippi on the plantation of Mr. Bell, near New Orleans, April 11, 1858.--See page 7.
Chouteau Pond. 1850.
Title
Chouteau Pond. 1850.
Date
1850
Description
20x16 in photograph of Chouteau Pond in 1850 with what may be McDowell Medical College in the distance.
Terrific Fire Among the Steamers In the Harbor of St. Louis, Mo.
Title
Terrific Fire Among the Steamers In the Harbor of St. Louis, Mo.
Date
1856-07-26
Description
Between five and six o'clock on Wednesday morning the 2d of July, a fire broke out in the cabin of the steamboat St. Clair, lying at the extreme end of the upper landing, which immediately communicated to the Paul Anderson, lying below her, and before many moments both were enveloped in flames. The hawsers were immediately cut loose, and the burning boats were sent floating down the stream. The current drove them alongside the Grand Turk, Southerner, and Saranak No. 2, lying immediately below, and the flames instantly communicated with those steamers, and in a moment those boats were also enveloped in a terrific blaze of fire. The J. M. Stockwell, lying below the Saranak, also caught fire, and in less than three quarters of an hour, and before the engines could possibly arrive, the above six steamboats were totally destroyed. The Southerner was a splendid new steamer, and only came out at the beginning of the season. She was built in Mobile, entirely of maple wood, and valued at $35,000. She was undergoing extensive repairs, and about to have a magnificent passenger cabin placed on her for the trade between this port and New Orleans. She was not insured in any of the offices here, as far as we could learn. The Paul Anderson was an old boat and was not worth as she stood more than $1000. Her machinery had been taken out, which rendered her all but valueless excepting the wood work and the hull, which was not considered of much account. The J. M. Stockwell was a Wabash river boat, worth about $800. The St. Clair was also an old boat, and not considered worth more than $10,000. The Grand Turk, although a very old craft, was still in fair condition, and was valued at about $20,000. She, years ago, cost $60,000, but had passed the best of her days, and was not worth more yesterday at the outside than the above amount. The Saranak No. 2 was also an old steamboat, not worth more than about $6000. The St. Clair was an old boat, valued at about $10,000. The total amount of property destroyed would probably amount to $75,000. With the exception of the Southerner, none of the other boats were worth much. There were immense crowds of persons collected on both sides of the river, witnessing the fire, which presented at one time a fearfully grand and picturesque sight. It is supposed to have originated through the work of an incendiary.
Thomas Hart Benton Portrait
Title
Thomas Hart Benton Portrait
Description
Engrave portrait of Thomas Hart Benton ca. 1850 by J. Rogers Co. with train vignette underneath.
Eclipse
Title
Eclipse
Description
Painting of the side-wheel packet Eclipse, commemorating her famed (and hotly contested) speed trial of 1853. The boat was designed for the Louisville-New Orleans trade and was given great power with the expectation that she could make the upstream voyage in four days; she never did.
Breaking of the Ice
Title
Breaking of the Ice
Date
1856, 1946-04-07
Description
Fire was not the only cause of disaster along the riverfront, for spring thaws took their toll, too. This scene shows some of the damage which resulted from ice breaking up in '56. Note throng attracted to levee. Spring thaws that took their toll along St. Louis riverfront in the days of heavy steamboat...shows some of the damage which resulted from ice breaking up in 1856. Note crowd attracted to levee... Ice was a deadly menace to the wooden-hulled steamboats, locking them to the shore and then crumpling them into splintered wrecks when it thawed and began to break. This was a typical mid-winter scene on the St. Louis riverfront in the 1850s.
Riverfront Old Pix St. Louis Levee
Title
Riverfront Old Pix St. Louis Levee
Date
1858 or 1859
Description
Boats in the picture (from left to right) are: Kate Sweeney, Federal Arch, and Belle Gould. Takes place in St. Louis Levee in 1858 or 1859.
Awful Accident on the North Pennsylvania Rail Road on Thursday July 17, 1856
Title
Awful Accident on the North Pennsylvania Rail Road on Thursday July 17, 1856
Date
1856, 1856
Fourth and Olive Streets
Title
Fourth and Olive Streets
Date
1857, 1938-12-01
Description
Fourth and Olive streets, looking west (in the top photo). The Ohio & Mississippi Railroad offices were in the building on the right. Its tracks got to Illinois-town, now East St. Louis, in 1857. An 1865 advertisement said the Ohio & Mississippi was "the Great Broad Gauge Route to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston. Only route to Cincinnati without change of cars. Trains are run by Telegraph. Only route running those elegant state room sleeping cars." The Ohio & Mississippi is now part of the Baltimore & Ohio- and Fourth and Olive has also changed (as shown in the lower of the two photos).

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