Wheeler Lake HistoryWheeler Lake History Information

1845

First Steamboat on the Coosa River
The first steamboat on the Coosa River was appropriately named the Coosa. It was launched on the fourth of July in 1845. The steamer was built in Cincinnati, traveled down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, then through inland passages of the Gulf of Mexico to Mobile and up the Alabama to the Coosa. When the steamer arrived at Wetumpka, which was the head of navigation heading upstream, it stopped unable to navigate up the treacherous Devil’s Staircase. The boat was disassembled and carried by oxen drawn wagons to Greensport where she was reassembled and launched.

The steamer immediately received a contract to carry mail from Greensport to Rome. After this historic launch the ambitious city of Wetumpka was of lesser importance as a river trade center. Today, the town of Greensport is buried under the waters of Neely Henry Lake. (dnordem & Jackson)

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