Inland Waterways Festival

August 3 & 4, 2013

9:30 AM - 5:00 PM Saturday
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Saturday Evening
Noon - 5:00 PM Sunday

The Inland Waterways Festival is a free, educational event with performers, storytellers, music, hands-on activities, model boat races, whistle blows, steam launch rides, wildlife displays featuring raptors, owls, & a 2,200 gallon freshwater aquarium. Below is a list of participants and events we have for our 2013 year!

The purpose of the Inland Waterways Festival is to commemorate the heritage and continuing importance of America’s rivers, canals, and lakes in the development of the Nation. Our goal is to educate the public about how the waterways were a viable means of transportation for commerce and culture and are still heavily relied upon today.

All scheduled events and participants are subject to change.

Speakers & Performers

IWF Logo

Stephen Hollen - Mark Twain
Louise Zimmer
Susanna Holstein
RiverWorks Discovery Storytelling
Ohio River Minstrels
Valley Voices
Annette Jefferson - Harriet Tubman
Artist Michael Dickinson

Saturday Evening Performance:

Nothing Stops This Train

Courtesy of The Rivers Institute at Hanover College

The Rivers Institute is proud to present Nothing Stops This Train, a play about the Underground Railroad by Terence Boyle.

The play tells the fascinating story of John and Sarah Tibbets and a slave named Georgina who helps other slaves escape. The play is set in Lancaster Township, home of Eleutherian College, the first College in Indiana to admit students regardless of race or gender. Sarah Tibbets journeys into her own memo-ries and recounts tales of slaves fleeing their masters across the Ohio River with the help of Georgina.

Learn Follow the Drinking Gourd, an old slave song, observe the hardships and danger of escaping, and witness the heroes that abetted their fellow man.

Exhibits

raptor

AEP Towboat
Whistle Blow Barge by Amherst Madison
Steam Launch brought by Thomas Schiffer
Lock & Dam Model supplied by Army Corp of Engineers
Corey brought by Army Corps of Engineers
Knot Tying by John Conklin
Educational Trailer brought by Muskingum SWCD
ORSANCO
Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge
WV Raptor Rehabilitation Center
RiverWorks Discovery
Underground Railroad Exhibit brought by Belpre Historical Society
Watershed Model brought by Friends of the Lower Muskingum
Lock & Dam Model supplied by Muskingum River Parkway

Model Boats

Aron Richardson
Bernard Kain
John Fryant
Michael Banks

Activities

line throwing competition

RiverWorks Discovery Activity Booth
Dredging for Carp Eggs
Line Tossing
Painting of Mussels
Fish Prints
Corn Hole Tossing

WP Snyder Jr.

The W. P. Snyder Jr. was originally built as the Carnegie Steel Co. towboat W. H. Clingerman in 1918 by Rees of Pittburgh, PA. In 1938 she was renamed J. L. Perry and in 1945 A-1. In August 1945 she was sold to Crucible Fuel Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, and again renamed W. P. Snyder Jr. in September 1945.

She was a sister vessel of the W. H. Colvin Jr.. She towed coal on the Monongahela river until she was laid up in September 23, 1953, at Crucible, PA. In the summer of 1955 the boat was given to the Ohio Historic Society for exhibit at the Ohio River Museum of the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen, Marietta, OH. The W. P. Snyder Jr. was the last steamboat locking through Lock 1, Muskingum river, before it was removed. She arrived with Capt. Fred Way Jr. as master at Marietta on September 16, 1955.

The W.P. Snyder Jr. will be open for tours during the Inland Waterways Festival.

Schedule of Events

Click here for a schedule of events!

Directions

The Inland Waterways Festival is located on the grounds of the Ohio River Museum at 601 Front Street, Marietta, Ohio, one block from Ohio State Route 7, and minutes from I-77. Free parking is available in the museum parking lot. Ohio River Museum is also wheelchair accessible, except for W.P. Snyder.

Use the interactive map below for specific driving instructions.

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