Jeffboat

{{Short description|American inland shipyard in Jeffersonville, Indiana}} {{Infobox company | name =Jeffboat | logo = | type = | industry = Shipbuilding | fate = Shut down in 2018 | predecessor = Howard Shipyard, Jeffersonville Boat Company | successor = | founded = 1834 as Howard Shipyard in Jeffersonville, Indiana, US | founder = James Howard | defunct = {{End date|2018|04|23}} | hq_location_city = Jeffersonville, Indiana | hq_location_country = | area_served = | key_people = }} thumb|260px|Jeffboat thumb|260px|Jeffboat Marine Repair thumb|260px|Jeffboat Marine Repair - Kort nozzle repair

'''Jeffboat''' was a shipyard in Jeffersonville, Indiana, founded by James Howard in 1834, a builder of steamboats. The company was owned by the Howard family until it was sold leading up to World War II. Following the war, it became known as the Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Company and later changed its name to Jeffboat, the more commonly used short form of its name. The company was the largest inland shipbuilder in the United States and the second-largest builder of barges before it closed in 2018.

==Origin== Jeffboat was originally established as the '''Howard Shipyards''' in 1834<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jeffboat.com/site/about/history.html |title=About Us | History |publisher=Jeffboat |date= |accessdate=9 April 2017}}</ref> by James Howard when he started his first boat, the ''Hyperion''. The Howard family controlled the company for 107 years, building over 3,000 ships.<ref name="museum">{{cite web|url=http://www.howardsteamboatmuseum.org/16-2/|access-date=6 November 2017|title=The Howard Saga|publisher=Howard Steamboat Museum|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107025618/http://www.howardsteamboatmuseum.org/16-2/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===19th-century steamboats=== The ''Joe Fowler'' is a former steamboat built at the Howard Shipyard in 1888. The sternwheeler was designed for packet service between Evansville, Indiana and Paducah, Kentucky. ''Joe Fowler'' was a United States Mail carrier, and after seven years of service, had logged over 327,000 miles and transported over 152,000 passengers without a fatal accident. In 1914, new owners replaced the steamer with high-pressure boilers designed for the western rivers. After this time, ''Joe Fowler'' ran excursions around the Pittsburgh and Wheeling, West Virginia areas, before hosting a cruise down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and a long summer cruise from Pittsburgh to St. Paul, then back to Louisville. After 1917, it was sold, refitted to better serve excursions, and renamed ''Crescent''.<ref>{{cite book|page=248|author=Frederick Way, Jr.|publisher=Ohio University Press|year=1994|location=Athens, OH|title=Way's Packet Directory, 1848{{endash}}1994}}</ref>

The ''Emily'' is a former sternwheeled steamboat built at the Howard Shipyard in 1891. The single-boiler steamer began in ferry service at Kenova, West Virginia, and later operated at Wheeling, West Virginia. ''Emily'' was sold three times, starting in 1902. The third buyer was Henderson Ferry Company of Henderson, Kentucky, which renamed it the ''Dixie Bee Line''. It burned in Henderson in 1926. After a rebuild, it ran as the ferry ''Ohio No. 2''.<ref>Way (1994), p. 148.</ref> In the 1930s, it was renovated for packet service, and renamed ''Joe Curtis'', and plied the waters near Memphis until it struck ice and sunk on January 25, 1940.<ref>Way (1994), p. 248.</ref>

==20th century==

Besides the original Jeffersonville, In. location the company had also established Yards in Paducah, Kentucky, Madison, Indiana, Cincinnati, and other locations. Most of them were put up for sale in 1917.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.103308979&view=1up&seq=28 |title=American Marine Engineer January, 1917 |publisher=National Marine Engineers Beneficial Association of the United States |via=Haithi Trust |accessdate=3 October 2020}}</ref>

The company faced persistent challenges during the Great Depression. The United States Navy bought the shipyards in 1942 and reorganized it as the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company.<ref name="ibj">{{cite web|publisher=Indiana Business Journal|title=Barge builder embraces stability|author=Sam Stall|date=20 June 2015|access-date=9 November 2017|url=https://www.ibj.com/articles/53654-barge-builder-embraces-stability?v=preview?referer=/articles/53654-barge-builder-embraces-stability?v=preview}}</ref>

During World War II, it built 123 vessels of the type known as "Landing Ship, Tank" (LSTs), 23 submarine chasers, and numerous other craft. Post-war, the shipyards built customized crafts, but specialized in barges and towboats. In 1957, the official name was changed to Jeffboat.

The Jeffboat yard built two nostalgic paddlewheelers during this period. In 1973, it completed ''Mississippi Queen'' steamboat'', and in 1985, finished the General Jackson'' showboat.<ref name="museum"/>

Production was stopped from 1986 to 1989.<ref name="ibj"/>

==21st century== A wildcat strike shut down operations during part of 2001.<ref name="ibj"/>

The Jeffboat yard built a third nostalgic paddlewheeler, the ''City of Evansville'', which was put into service as the ''Casino Aztar'' riverboat casino.<ref name="museum"/>

A union decertification petition was circulated in 2016, but employees voted 649 to 190 to retain Teamsters Local 89 as their union.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsandtribune.com/news/local_news/union-doesn-t-jump-ship-at-jeffboat/article_8604a973-8337-5528-a0b1-8141b9f0f085.html|title=Union doesn't jump ship at Jeffboat|author=David Mann|access-date=9 November 2017|date=9 December 2017|publisher=News and Tribune}}</ref>

As of 20 June 2015, the 68-acre Jeffboat shipyard is owned by American Commercial Lines Inc. (ACL), a company also based in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Mark Knoy is the CEO. In turn, Platinum Equity owns ACL, the largest inland shipbuilder in the United States, building both river barges and ocean barges.<ref name="ibj"/>

The company laid off 278 employees in November 2017 due to a lack of production,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Novelly |first1=Thomas |title=Jeffboat shipyard in Jeffersonville, Indiana to close in May |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/money/companies/2018/03/26/jeffboat-shipyard-closing-jeffersonville-indiana/457812002/ |website=The Courier-Journal |accessdate=29 September 2018}}</ref> and it closed permanently on April 23, 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McDonough |first1=Pat |title=When Jeffboat shipyard closes in Indiana, workers say goodbye to jobs |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/money/companies/2018/04/20/jeffboat-closure-shipyard-jeffersonville-indiana-worker-portraits/507801002/ |website=The Courier-Journal |accessdate=29 September 2018}}</ref>

==Ships built== Steamships built in the yard include (in alphabetical order): {| class="wikitable" !Name !Origin !Year !Power !Propulsion !tonnage !Length !Beam !Draft !Out of service !Notes |- |- |''A.D. Allen''<ref name="wayA">{{cite book|author=Frederick Way, Jr.|title=Way's Packet Directory, 1848{{endash}}1994|publisher=Ohio University Press|location=Athens, OH|year=1994|pages=1{{endash}}34}}</ref> |Built |1901 |Single steam boiler |Sternwheeler | |125 |23 |2.5 |1929 or later |Arkansas River |- |- |''A.M. Halliday''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1903 |Single boiler steam |Centerwheel | |121 |59 |7.7 |1954 |Steel, double-hull. Ferry. Dismantled. |- |- |''A. Baldwin''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1905 |Dual boiler, steam |Centerwheel | |127 |58.9 |7.5 |1971 |Steel-hull. Catamaran. Ferry. |- |- |''Acadia''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1860 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |188 |35 |7 |1863 |Burned in the Civil War |- |- |''Alberta''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1876 |Steam |Sternwheeler |107 |116 |25 |3.5 | |White River |- |- |''Alberta''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1880 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |150 |18.5 |3.5 | |Arkansas and White rivers |- |- |''Alberta No. 3''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1884 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |145 |28 |3.6 | |White River |- |- |''Alex Perry''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1891 |Dual boiler, steam |Sternwheeler | |149.9 |18.5 |3.5 |1896 |Lost to fire |- |- |''Alex. Scott''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1842 |Steam, six-boilers |Sidewheeler | |266 |34 |8 | |St. Louis{{endash}}New Orleans |- |- |''Algiers''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1925 |Steam, dual boilers |Sternwheeler | |144 |55 |7.7 |After 1958 |Dual, steel hull. Catamaran. Ferry. New Orleans. |- |- |''Aline''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1858 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |125 |30 |6 | |New Orleans{{endash}}Opelousas (1859). Confederate service (1861) |- |- |''Alma''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1900 |Triple-boiler, steam |Sternwheeler |311 |220 |36 |5 |1861 |Missouri River |- |- |''Alonzo C. Church''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1893 |Triple-boiler steam |Recess wheel | | |59 |7.7 |1954 |Steel, double-hull. Ferry. Dismantled. |- |- |''A. Baldwin''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1905 |Dual boiler, steam |Centerwheel | |172.3 |43.3 |6.5 |1914 |Dismantled and converted to wharf boat. |- |- |''Alonzo Child''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1857 |Steam, six boilers. |Sidewheeler | |236 |38 |7 |After 1863 |St. Louis{{endash}}Omaha. St. Louis{{endash}}New Orleans. |- |- |''Alton''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1906 |Steam |Sidewheeler | |241.1 |38 |7.3 |1918 |St. Louis{{endash}}Alton. Excursions. Lost in ice. |- |- |''America''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1898 |Triple-boiler, steam |Sternwheeler | |200 |38 |6.5 |1926 |Ouchita River (1898). Mississippi River (1904). |- |- |''America''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1917 |Steam, five boilers |Sidewheeler | |285 |45 |6 |1930 |Converted wooden hull from ''Indiana''. Lost to fire. |- |- |''Andrew Christy''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1897 |Triple-boiler, steam |Sidewheeler | |170 |48 |7.4 | |Renamed ''Henry Watterson'' |- |- |''Archie P. Green''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1873 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |110 |22 |3 |1880 |White River. Sunk near Batesville, Arkansas. |- |- |''Arkansas City''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1882 |Steam |Sidewheeler |1,236 |273 |44 |7 |1896 |Destroyed in tornado |- |- |''Ashland City''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1892 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |120 |20 |3.9 |After 1900 |Nashville{{endash}}Clarksville (1892). Paducah{{endash}}Danville. |- |- |''Assumption''<ref name="wayA" /> |Built |1875 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |151 |35.8 |6.5 |1895 |New Orleans{{endash}}Thibodeaux (1878). New Orleans{{endash}}Bayou Lafourche (1880). |- |- |''B.B.''<ref name="wayB">{{cite book|author=Frederick Way, Jr.|year=1994|location=Athens, OH|publisher=Ohio University Press|title=Way's Packet Directory, 1848{{endash}}1994|pages=34{{endash}}64}}</ref> |Built |1899 |Steam |Sternwheeler | | | | | |Ferry at Warsaw and Quincy |- |- |''B.H. Crooke''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1873 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |151 |30 |4.5 |1880 |Evansville{{endash}}Nashville. Dismantled. |- |- |''Bayliss Lee''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1899 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |190 |38 |5.8 | |Memphis. Paducah{{endash}}Waterloo. Memphis{{endash}}Vicksburg. |- |- |''Bayou City''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1859 |Steam |Sidewheeler | |165 |28 |5 | |Houston{{endash}}Galveston |- |- |''Belle Lee''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1868 |Eight boilers, steam |Sidewheeler |1,284 |291 |2.4 |8.4 |1876 |Refabricated and renamed ''Mary Bell'' |- |- |''Belle Memphis''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1866 |Steam |Sidewheeler | |260 |40 |7 |1980 |St.Louis{{endash}}Memphis. Dismantled. |- |- |''Belle Memphis''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1880 |Five boilers, steam |Sidewheeler | |267 |42 |7.5 |1897 |St. Louis{{endash}}Memphis. Hit snag near Chester, Illinois. |- |- |''Belle of Alton''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built | |Six boilers, steam |Sidewheeler | |229 |34.5 |6 |1871 |Alton{{endash}}St. Louis (1868). New Orleans{{endash}}Grand Encore (1870). Fire. |- |- |''Belle of the Bends''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1898 |Three boilers, steam |Sidewheeler | |210 |32.6 |7.4 | |Vickburg{{endash}}Greenville (1898). Sank and raised twice. Renamed ''Liberty''. |- |- |''Ben Franklin''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1869 |Four boilers, steam |Sidewheeler | |261 |37.5 |6.1 |1881 |Cincinnati{{endash}}Madison. Sank in 1878, but recovered. |- |- |''Big Sunflower''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1869 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |125 |28 |4 | |Vicksburg. Possibly rebuilt as the ''Jennie Lane''. |- |- |''Birdie Brent''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1866 |Steam |Recess wheel |109 |111 |22 |3.5 |1887 |Boonville, MO. Sunk. |- |- |''Black Locust''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1834 |Steam | | |110 |25 |4.5 | |Louisville{{endash}}Jeffersonville. Possibly first or second boat built at Howard. |- |- |''Black Locust''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1847 |Steam |Recess wheel. |106 | | | |1867 |Louisville{{endash}}Jeffersonville. Ferry. Lost in ice. |- |- |''Blanks Cornwall''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1887 |Steam, two boilers. |Sternwheeler | |140 |29 |4.6 |1896 |Yazoo and Tallahatchie rivers. Lost to snag. |- |- |''Blue Wing No. 2''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1850 |Three boilers, steam |Sidewheeler |170 |150 |60 |6.5 |1862 |Kentucky River. Captured by the CSA and burned. |- |- |''Blue Wing No. 3''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1863 |Steam |Sidewheeler |158 |150 |31 |5.7 | |Kentucky River (1863). New Orleans{{endash}}Mobile (1866). Louisville (1876). |- |- |''Bluff City''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1896 |Four boilers, steam |Sternwheeler | |225 |42 |6 |1897 |St. Louis{{endash}}New Orleans. Fire at Chester, IL. |- |- |''Bob Blanks''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1903 |Three boilers, steam |Sternwheeler | |175 |35 |5 |1912 |New Orleans. Fire. |- |- |''Bonnie Lee''<ref name="wayB" /> |Built |1875 |Steam |Sternwheeler | |165 |30 |3.5 |1880 |New Orleans and Red River. Boiler explosion. |- |- |}

==See also== * Howard Steamboat Museum

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * {{Official website|http://www.jeffboat.com/}} (Now defunct) * {{cite web |url=http://www.aclines.com/site/manufacture/manufacturing.html |title=Jeffboat Manufacturing |first= |last= |work=American Commercial Lines |year=2013 |access-date=2013-07-02 |archive-date=2013-05-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504224547/http://www.aclines.com/site/manufacture/manufacturing.html |url-status=dead }} * {{cite web |url= http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/jeffboat.htm |title= Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company, ("JeffBoat"), Jeffersonville IN (Self-Propelled Vessels) |first=Tim |last=Colton |work=shipbuildinghistory.com |year=2018 }} * [http://www.teamsters89.com Official IBT Local 89 website] * {{cite web|url=http://libcom.org/library/jeffboat-shipyard-wildcat-strike-2001|title=2001: The JeffBoat workers wildcat strike|work=Libcom.org|year=2013}}

Category:Shipbuilding companies of the United States Category:Companies based in Indiana Category:Jeffersonville, Indiana Category:Steamboats of the Ohio River Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1834 Category:American companies established in 1834 Category:1834 establishments in Indiana Category:2018 disestablishments in Indiana