Chapter 9: The Steamboat
n 1787, John Fitch built the first recorded steam-powered boat in the United States. It was propelled by a bank of oars on either side of the boat. He also experimented with side-mounted paddle wheels, but in 1790 used and patented stern-mounted oars instead. Fitch was the first to operate a steamboat commercially, with scheduled transport of passengers and freight on the Delaware river between Philadelphia and Trenton in 1790. The first successful application of steam power to navigate a paddle wheel boat in North America occurred in 1793 when Samuel Morey demonstrated his steamboat on the Connecticut River near Orford, New Hampshire.