CityView Magazine

52 December 2021 The Damyank was often photographed as it ran up and down the river near the Person Street bridge. One of the most beautiful pleasure yachts ever to run on the Cape Fear River was the Florida, which was owned by the late Oscar P. Breece. F rom 1818 through 1910, there were many large steamboats on the Cape Fear River in Fayetteville. In the early 1800s, James Seawall built the first steamboat to ply the upper Cape Fear River between Fayetteville and Wilmington. is boat, which was constructed near Fayetteville, was named for his daughter Henrietta. e sidewheeler Henrietta was launched in 1818 and served Fayetteville faithfully for 40 years. Captain Seawall and his associates formed the Henrietta Steamboat Company for steamboat navigation on the upper Cape Fear River for seven years as long as they agreed to operate one or more steamboats during that time. Capt. Seawall also built the Steamboat North Carolina, followed three years later, in 1826, by the Cotton Plant. FAYETTEVILLE HISTORY Steamboats on the Cape Fear River BY WEEKS PARKER We hope you enjoy this recurring feature by history buff Weeks Parker, who owns an impressive collection of local memorabilia and photos that he has agreed to share with CityView readers. A former Presbyterian Ju- nior College Band Director, Parker is the author of 12 books on a variety of subjects including "Fayetteville, North Carolina: A Pictorial History." In 1825, when the Marquis de Lafayette made his historic visit to Fayetteville, Capt. Seawall's seven-year contract had expired, and businessmen of Fayetteville and Wilmington formed new steamboat companies. By the mid-1800s, there were 17 steamboats in service on the upper Cape Fear River. Most of these were sidewheelers made of wood and weighing about 100 tons each. In the 1850s, sternwheelers with iron hulls became quite popular. ese steamboats were named for captains, ladies, native sons, etc. Some of the many boats were Fannie Lutterloh, Kate McLaurin, Flora McDonald, A. P. Hurt, R. E. Lee, Governor Worth, Scottish Chief, Halcyon, Magnolia, Evergreen and Cape Fear. By the turn of the century, the future of the large steamboats was bleak because railroads were much faster and cheaper. By 1910, all freight boats and barges had stopped running. In 1923, the large stern-wheeler passenger boat, the A. P. Hurt, sank in Wilmington aer 60 years of faithful service. e elma, which was the last of the stern-wheelers to ply the Cape Fear River, sank in the river near Elizabethtown.

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