Flatboats on the Great Miami
Trading in New Orleans -- about 1,400 river miles away -- influenced commerce in Southwestern Ohio in the early 1800s. The absence of good roads and streams flowing east made it impractical to send surplus agricultural goods directly to the more populous eastern states.
Lading included flour, wheat, corn, potatoes, hay, tobacco, whiskey, pork, beef and livestock. Many products were shipped in barrels.
For at least 40 years, starting in the 1790s, local flatboat trips began in late winter or early spring when river levels were adequate. The duration of the weeks-long voyage varied, depending on weather and river conditions along the Great Miami, Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
In 1823 freight from Hamilton totaled 6,495 barrels of flour, 1,424 barrels of pork, 945 barrels of whisky, 50 barrels of pickles and cucumbers, 28 barrels of beans, 15 barrels of sauerkraut, 950 kegs of lard, 7,000 bushels of corn, 1,400 bushels of potatoes, 80 kegs of butter, 200 dozen chickens and 30,000 feet of cherry lumber.
There’s no record of the last flatboat passing over the Great Miami River, but some traffic was reported in the 1830s, when the canal -- a modern efficient alternative to the river -- expedited shipments to Cincinnati and transfer to steamboats.
Credit to Jim Blount - sites.google.com/a/lanepl.org/columns-by-jim-blount/home/2017-articles/flatboats-and-inland-river-system-spurred-commerce-in-early-butler-county
Lading included flour, wheat, corn, potatoes, hay, tobacco, whiskey, pork, beef and livestock. Many products were shipped in barrels.
For at least 40 years, starting in the 1790s, local flatboat trips began in late winter or early spring when river levels were adequate. The duration of the weeks-long voyage varied, depending on weather and river conditions along the Great Miami, Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
In 1823 freight from Hamilton totaled 6,495 barrels of flour, 1,424 barrels of pork, 945 barrels of whisky, 50 barrels of pickles and cucumbers, 28 barrels of beans, 15 barrels of sauerkraut, 950 kegs of lard, 7,000 bushels of corn, 1,400 bushels of potatoes, 80 kegs of butter, 200 dozen chickens and 30,000 feet of cherry lumber.
There’s no record of the last flatboat passing over the Great Miami River, but some traffic was reported in the 1830s, when the canal -- a modern efficient alternative to the river -- expedited shipments to Cincinnati and transfer to steamboats.
Credit to Jim Blount - sites.google.com/a/lanepl.org/columns-by-jim-blount/home/2017-articles/flatboats-and-inland-river-system-spurred-commerce-in-early-butler-county