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Illustration of John Fitch's design for a ferry boat with steam-driven oars, Columbian Magazine, December 8, 1786.
Credit: Library of Congress
The father of the American steam boat, John Fitch (1743-1798) successfully launched and operated a steam-powered vessel on the Delaware River on August 22, 1787, in the presence of members of the Constitutional Convention. Twenty years later the age of the steam boat officially begin when Robert Fulton, born and raised in Lancaster County, built the Clermont in New York