Tall Stacks took Cincinnati back to its flourishing steamboat era of the 1800s

Tall Stacks is fondly remembered by many in Cincinnati. The clock turned back to the 1800s and the riverfront was once against bustling with steamboats and the shrill whistle of the calliope.

The first Tall Stacks festival was part of Cincinnati’s year-long bicentennial celebration in 1988. Over three days in October, 14 riverboats docked at the Public Landing, making for a picturesque view of smokestacks and paddlewheels. People dressed in period clothing strolled the gangplanks. Old-fashioned vendors set up carts hawking goods. Jazz, jug band and folk music played.

And thousands of people took riverboat excursions out on the Ohio River, where the majestic “floating palaces” once again ruled the waterways.

“The whole idea behind Tall Stacks is that it is really a celebration of the river, Americana, the heartland of America in the 1800s,” Susan Becker of Smith-Kaufman Public Relations, which helped publicize the bicentennial event, told The Enquirer at the time.

Cincinnati’s prosperity was certainly linked to the steamboat era.

Our History: How do you get there? The many methods of travel in Cincinnati’s early days

The first steamboat on the Ohio River

Cincinnati was a river town in the Western frontier when the first steamboat, the New Orleans, designed by Robert Fulton, churned down the Ohio River in 1811. On its inaugural journey from Pittsburgh to its namesake destination, the steam-powered boat passed by Cincinnati on Oct. 27, though it didn’t stop.

The Western Spy newspaper wrote, “The citizens of this place were much disappointed in not having an opportunity of viewing her, only as she passed. She made no stops here. From the rapidity with which she passed this place it is supposed she went at the rate of 12-14 miles an hour.”

According to “The First Steamboat Voyage on the Western Waters” by J.H.B. Latrobe, the return visit to Cincinnati on Nov. 27 was partially in hope of “convincing the incredulous Cincinnatians” who thought the steamboat, like traditional keelboats, could not make it back upriver.

“She was greeted with an enthusiasm that exceeded, even, what was displayed on her descent from Pittsburg (sic). No one doubted now.”

Faster and more maneuverable than flatboats and keelboats, the steamboat quickly dominated river travel.

Cincinnati was ideally located for the shipbuilding business. From 1816 to 1880, Cincinnati’s shipyards in Fulton (named after the steamboat innovator) produced 900 new steamboats, starting with the Vesta in 1816.

The Ohio River became thick with steamboats belching smoke from their stacks. Most had a brief lifespan, as fires, collisions and boiler explosions were common.

According to “They Built a City: 150 Years of Industrial Cincinnati,” records show 2,237 steamboats tied up at the Public Landing in 1835. That was indicative of Cincinnati’s exponential growth to becoming the sixth largest city in the nation by 1840.

As railroads took away passengers, steamboats lost their dominance. In the winter of 1918, ice floes on the frozen Ohio River crushed several steamboats docked at Cincinnati.

The Queen City did have its beautiful Island Queen. The steamer transported guests to Coney Island and back. The first boat was lost to fire in 1922. The larger, more majestic replacement burned in 1947.

The steamboat age came to a close in Cincinnati, until Tall Stacks.

Steamboat race: Delta Queen vs. Belle of Louisville

The last day of Tall Stacks in 1988 featured a classic steamboat race between Cincinnati’s own Delta Queen (built in 1926) and the Belle of Louisville (built in 1914).

They were two of the last five authentic steamboats traveling on American rivers – that is, still powered by steam. Other riverboats use chains to drive the sternwheels, or are driven by screws or propellers and the inactive paddlewheels are just for show.

The two steamboats raced annually during Kentucky Derby Week in Louisville starting in 1963, but this was the first Tall Stacks Race.

The hometown favorite took an early lead in the three-mile sprint down the Ohio River when the Belle was late to the starting line. The Delta Queen finished a few feet ahead for the win. (One anachronistic change: During the race, Cincinnati passengers were glued to the boats' TVs to watch the Bengals game.)

More than 750,000 people showed up for Tall Stacks that year. It proved so popular the festival returned five times, in 1992, 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2006. The 2003 event expanded to a five-day Tall Stacks Music, Arts & Heritage Festival with 17 riverboats and 30 national musical acts.

But the poor economy doomed the 2010 festival due to the difficulty in signing corporate sponsors. It was postponed, then canceled, and never launched again.

Something like Tall Stacks is finally headed this way again.

The America’s River Roots Festival, announced in April, will run Oct. 9-12, 2025, as a prelude to the celebration of America’s 250th birthday in 2026. A dozen riverboats will dock at Cincinnati, Covington and Newport, celebrating our river heritage.

Can you hear the calliope music already?

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati flourished during steamboat era. Tall Stacks celebrated it