Steamboat sailing to left in image. Blue flag at left, American flag at right. Two smoke stacks. Row boat and three persons in center foreground. Partial color.
Currier & Ives captured many of the maritime wonders of the era in print, including the Low Pressure Steamboat “Isaac Newton.” Built in 1846, the steamboat was larger than any previous river steamer. The vessel consumed four tons of coal per hour, a startling amount for the time. The paddle wheels were 39 feet in diameter and the ship was 338 feet long. The steamer was rebuilt in 1855, extending the length to 405 feet. The “Isaac Newton” was unsurpassed in its size and the splendor of its interior furnishings. As was often the case with steamers, the ship’s starboard boiler exploded and on December 5, 1863, when opposite Fort Lee, the liner burned to the water’s edge injuring seventeen people and killing nine.
