Today in Wheeling History: July 27—Riverboat "Liberty," famed Ohio River packet serving the Wheeling trade, was attached for debt and sold for $195 (1938).
Built at Clarington, Ohio, in 1912 for the Booth family, the sternwheel packet "Liberty" quickly became one of the most familiar boats on the upper Ohio River, especially in the Wheeling–Clarington trade. Her engines came from earlier vessels "T.N. Barnsdall," "Royal," and an earlier "Liberty," and she was designed to carry passengers, freight, and mail on a regular schedule. In her early years, "Liberty" made daily round trips between Clarington and Wheeling, sounding her whistle around 5:00 a.m. so shoppers could board for a day in the city before returning home in the evening. As regional travel shifted from river to rail and motor car, her routes expanded: by 1918 she ran to New Matamoras and Parkersburg, later entering the Wheeling–McConnelsville and Pittsburgh–McConnelsville trades, then Pittsburgh–Zanesville and Gallipolis–Charleston. "Liberty" became the last regular packet to operate year‑round out of Pittsburgh and, in 1936, towed the showboat "Goldenrod" with the Major Bowes Amateurs, even steaming to Morgantown playing its calliope to advertise the show. Caught in the 1936 flood and vandalized, she was repaired by owner Walter Webster and used in the 1937 flood as a rescue boat. Financial troubles led to her attachment for debt and sale for $195 on July 27, 1938; Captain Ben Raike later dismantled her at Kanauga, Ohio, with her engines going to the towboat "Valley Belle."
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library – Riverboat Liberty (https://tinyurl.com/b86r5mm4), University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries – Liberty [Packet/Towboat, 1912–1938] (https://tinyurl.com/452spcdp), Appalachian History – “Last of the packet boats” (https://tinyurl.com/bdd98ft2), Waymarking – Riverboat “Liberty” Barn Mural, Clarington, OH (https://tinyurl.com/sd5krzz)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling; Waymarking, University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries
Built at Clarington, Ohio, in 1912 for the Booth family, the sternwheel packet "Liberty" quickly became one of the most familiar boats on the upper Ohio River, especially in the Wheeling–Clarington trade. Her engines came from earlier vessels "T.N. Barnsdall," "Royal," and an earlier "Liberty," and she was designed to carry passengers, freight, and mail on a regular schedule. In her early years, "Liberty" made daily round trips between Clarington and Wheeling, sounding her whistle around 5:00 a.m. so shoppers could board for a day in the city before returning home in the evening. As regional travel shifted from river to rail and motor car, her routes expanded: by 1918 she ran to New Matamoras and Parkersburg, later entering the Wheeling–McConnelsville and Pittsburgh–McConnelsville trades, then Pittsburgh–Zanesville and Gallipolis–Charleston. "Liberty" became the last regular packet to operate year‑round out of Pittsburgh and, in 1936, towed the showboat "Goldenrod" with the Major Bowes Amateurs, even steaming to Morgantown playing its calliope to advertise the show. Caught in the 1936 flood and vandalized, she was repaired by owner Walter Webster and used in the 1937 flood as a rescue boat. Financial troubles led to her attachment for debt and sale for $195 on July 27, 1938; Captain Ben Raike later dismantled her at Kanauga, Ohio, with her engines going to the towboat "Valley Belle."
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library – Riverboat Liberty (https://tinyurl.com/b86r5mm4), University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries – Liberty [Packet/Towboat, 1912–1938] (https://tinyurl.com/452spcdp), Appalachian History – “Last of the packet boats” (https://tinyurl.com/bdd98ft2), Waymarking – Riverboat “Liberty” Barn Mural, Clarington, OH (https://tinyurl.com/sd5krzz)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling; Waymarking, University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries
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