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A flatboat is a rectangular boat with a flat bottom and square
Square (geometry)

In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular polygon with four equal sides and four equal angles . A square with vertices ABCD would be denoted ....
 ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterway
Waterway

A waterway is any navigable body of water. These include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:...
s. The flatboat could be any size but, essentially, it is a large, sturdy tub with a hull that displaces water and so floats in the water; therefore, the flatboat is not a raft
Raft

A raft is any flat floating structure for travel over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull . Instead, rafts are kept afloat using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels, or inflated air chambers....
, which floats on the water. A flatboat was almost always a one-way vessel, and was usually dismantled for lumber when it reached its downstream destination.






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A flatboat is a rectangular boat with a flat bottom and square
Square (geometry)

In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular polygon with four equal sides and four equal angles . A square with vertices ABCD would be denoted ....
 ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterway
Waterway

A waterway is any navigable body of water. These include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:...
s. The flatboat could be any size but, essentially, it is a large, sturdy tub with a hull that displaces water and so floats in the water; therefore, the flatboat is not a raft
Raft

A raft is any flat floating structure for travel over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull . Instead, rafts are kept afloat using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels, or inflated air chambers....
, which floats on the water. A flatboat was almost always a one-way vessel, and was usually dismantled for lumber when it reached its downstream destination. Varieties of flatboat in the early 19th century included the mid-range broadhorn and Kentucky boat, and the longer-range New Orleans boat, which was fully covered. An average of 3,000 flatboats descended the Ohio River
Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States....
 each year between 1810 and 1820. Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
 twice piloted a flatboat carrying produce to New Orleans, from Indiana
Indiana

The State of Indiana was the 19th U.S. state admitted into the union. It is located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America....
 in 1828 and from Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
 in 1831.

The flatboat continued in use even when the steamboat
Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam engine, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels....
 gained popularity because of the lower costs of building and of transport. Dams did away with the flatboat because the boats (having no mechanical power) could not be propelled into the locks.;kko

See also

  • Narrowboat
    Narrowboat

    A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of England and Wales....
  • Horse-drawn boat
    Horse-drawn boat

    A horse-drawn boat or tow-boat is a historic boat operating on a canal, pulled by a horse walking on a special road along the canal, the towpath....
  • Scow
    Scow

    A scow, in the original sense, is a flat bottomed boat with a blunt bow, often used to haul waste or similar bulk freight; cf. barge. The etymology of the word is from the Dutch language schouwe, meaning such a boat....


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