W.B. SHATTUC - MINNEHAHA - W.B. SHATTUC - CITY OF PITTSBURGH
(1879 - 1919)


HISTORY

Building of the "W.B. Shattuc" (named in honor of Gen. W.B. Shattuc general passenger ticket agent of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad) commenced in October of 1876 by Mr. R.J.I. Cooper (a well known Buffalo boat builder) for Captain Alfed Wilcox. She was 100 foot long with a beam of 19 feet 4 inches. On the lower deck there were two spacious cabins one for the ladies and one for the gentlemen. Also on the lower deck was the engine room and pilot house. The upper deck was all clear for dancing.

She was launched on April 26, 1879 under the command of her owner Captain Alfred Wilcox.

The "Shattuc" was thoroughly overhauled in the Spring of 1880 with the work including a new engine and her wheel-house being removed to the upper deck. During much of the 1880's one of her Spring duties was to tow great rafts of logs down the lake to the sawmills in Jamestown NY.

In March of 1883 her new owners, the Buffalo, New York & Pittsburgh Railway renamed her the "Minnehaha". Also in the Spring of that year her front cabin was taken down and rebuilt on the upper deck.

In July of 1887 under her new owners the Chautauqua Lake Railroad she resumed her original name the "W.B. Shattuc". Then in 1892 her then current owners the Chautauqua Steamboat Company, renamed her the "City of Pittsburgh".

1914 was a good year for the remaining Chautauqua Lake steamboats including the "City of Pittsburgh". The new owners, The Chautauqua Lake Navigation Company, spent thousands of dollars painting, repairing and making the boats as good as new. The "City of Pittsburgh" made regular runs during the seasons of 1914-16 but then was used little in 1917.

On March 16, 1918 high water and lack of due care ended in the "City of Pittsburgh" being sunken, stuck in the mud with her decks awash. She never ran again and was dismantled later that summer.

In 1929 the engine from the "City of Pittsburgh" made its way to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan. It is said to have been seen set up in the machinery building there.

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