e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia Online

Keelboats and Flatboats

River Transportation Section 2 of 9

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Early settlers used and improved upon Indian dugout and bark canoes for travel and trade. As commerce grew, they developed keelboats and flatboats.

Keelboats (pictured on right) were long, narrow boats that could travel both downstream and upstream, but going upstream took a crew using poles to push the boat. They were used from the 1780s until the Civil War.

Flatboats (pictured on left) were large, box-like boats used only downstream. Once they reached their destination, they were taken apart and used for construction purposes. Flatboats carried families and goods west and south, earning the nickname “Ark of the Empire.”