Research Catalog

Title

Disaster on the Potomac : the last run of the steamboat Wawaset / Alvin F. Oickle.

Author

Oickle, Alvin F.

Publication

Charleston, SC : History Press, 2009.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

127 pages : illustrations, map; 23 cm

Summary

For passengers of the steamboat Wawaset, August 8, 1873, began with a pleasant cruise from Washington, D.C., down the Potomac River. As the Wawaset came into sight of a small Virginia landing, fire broke out below decks, and frantic passengers leapt from the flames only to be pulled down by the swift waters. Author Alvin F. Oickle puts a human face to the tragedy as he profiles some of the seventy-five who perished, among them young mother Alethea Gray and six members of the Reed family. With a fast-paced style and firsthand accounts, Oickle masterfully narrates the last run of the Wawaset against the backdrop of a tense post Civil War society.

Subject

• Wawaset (Steamboat)
• 1800-1899
• Fires > Potomac River > History > 19th century
• Disasters > Potomac River > History > 19th century
• Ships > Fires and fire prevention > History > Potomac River > 19th century
• Steamboats > Potomac River > History > 19th century
• Disasters
• Fires
• Ships > Fires and fire prevention
• Steamboats
• Potomac River > History > 19th century
• Washington Region > History > 19th century
• United States > Potomac River
• Washington (D.C.) Region

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references.

Contents

Boarding for an excursion -- Down the Potomac -- Fire!!! -- Disaster on the Potomac -- The body count continues -- What went wrong? -- Who was at fault? -- The years after -- Appendix A: Passengers on the Wawaset -- Appendix B: The steamship inspection service report.

ISBN

• 9781596298132
• 1596298138

LCCN

2009043988

OCLC

• ocn459210683
• SCSB-9529812

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library