Mississippi River Shanty Boats

Shantyboat is the story of a leisurely journey down the ohio and mississippi rivers to new orleans.

Mississippi river shanty boats. Secret history is an a. There is a long forgotten history in america of people living in homemade shantyboats a reasonable and cost free solution for displaced people in rural areas and workers in urban areas. We celebrate living on the water affordably. Imagine then my recent excitement when learning a bit more about the history of shanty boats and river people in general.

For most people such a journey is the stuff that dreams are made of but for harlan and anna hubbard it became a cherished reality. During that time about 50 000 people called the ohio and mississippi rivers home. Shanty boats were popular in the region from the 1850 s to the 1950 s. Perhaps it is a held over fascination with tom sawyer tales from the mississippi.

Shanty boats were a popular form of housing in the region from the 1850 s to the 1950 s. A shantyboat is a small crude houseboat also called a flatboat broadhorn barge scow or ark. During that time bush was one of 50 000 people who lived on a shanty boat and called the ohio and mississippi rivers home. In the fall of 1944 they built a houseboat small but neatly accommodated to their needs on the bank of the ohio near cincinnati and in it after a pause of two.

But it cannot be denied that shanty boats are no less tiny houses than anything else. There is something so magical about them. Shanty boaters on the ohio and mississippi rivers have been part of the american south s story for decades living along the edge of its many rivers and experiencing the trade and travel that.