Thursday, April 19, 2007

Passenger Barges Have Long History


Memoirs from the Hysterical Historian

Passenger barges such as the Betsey Northrup are not new to the Mississippi River. In the early 1900s the Steamer Frontenac pushed a large excursion barge out of Winona, MN. The big excursion barges were extremely popular throughout the Mississippi and Ohio rivers in the 1800s and early 1900s.

A great feature of the excursion barge is that it is very quiet because it has no engines. The Betsey Northrup, which is pushed by the riverboat Anson Northrup or separately by the towboat Ugh the Tug, has been described as gliding over the water with the smooth, quiet elegance of a giant canoe.

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