1818: The Launch of a Pioneering Great Lakes Vessel

May 28, 1818

A pioneering sidewheel steamboat known as Walk-in-the-Water was launched at Black Rock, New York. (An independent community at that time, Black Rock is now part of Buffalo.) Walk-in-the-Water became the first steam-powered vessel to sail on Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan.

An engineer named Noah Brown designed Walk-in-the-Water. Robert McQueen was the machinist who built this steamboat’s engine. The two-masted vessel was 132 feet (40 meters) in length.

During her comparatively brief career, this steamboat was used to provide freight and passenger services between Buffalo and Detroit. Walk-in-the-Water was grounded and wrecked in a gale-force storm in Buffalo’s bay in the fall of 1821. In 1989, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 25-cent stamp depicting that vessel.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on the sidewheel steamboat Walk-in-the-Water, please check out Walk-in-the-Water (steamboat) – Wikipedia