John Swatsley (American, B. 1937) "Steamboat Experiment (1788-1790)" Signed lower right. Original Oil painting on Illustration Board.

Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation.

This artwork originally appeared on the Fleetwood First Day of Issue Maximum Card for the U.S. 25c Steamboat Experiment stamp issued March 3, 1989.

In the early 1780's, an inventor named John Fitch and an engineer named Henry Voight built a steamboat propelled by six twelve-foot vertical oars placed on either side of the craft. She proved extremely slow, and by 1788 the two men had redesigned their vessel using three rectangular paddles operating aft of the stern rather than many oars positioned along the sides. They christened their craft the Experiment, and put her into commercial service on the Delaware, making the trip from Philadelphia to Burlington and Trenton, New Jersey. But she was just too slow for commercial operations -- the steamboat trip took longer than the journey by stagecoach. Consequently, the little steamer consistently lost money on her voyages and was withdrawn from service in the summer of 1790. Nevertheless, she was a pioneer in American steamboating in two regards. She was the first vessel in American waters to actually move under her own steam, and the first commercial American steamboat.

Image Size: 8.75 x 10.5 in.
Overall Size: 15 x 18 in.
Unframed.
(B11868)

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15 x 18 in