Comedian George Carlin used to say that people or things he did not like should be "phased out," for example, people who attempt to harmonize the final refrain when singing Happy Birthday. He was not wishing people dead; it was just his amusing way of saying that certain things annoyed him. Changes in society regularly bring about transformation, and certain things become obsolete, and - you could say - are phased out. And something new is phased in.
Two focal points in this lower Front Street photo in 1947 were being phased out - the trolley and the sternwheel steamboat. Ironically both modes of transport - interurban electric railroads (think trolleys) and steamboats themselves wrought major changes in the 1800s and early 1900s. The interurbans connected hundreds of cities and towns, hauling freight and passengers. They were electric powered, lighter construction than regular railroads, more passenger-focused with frequent stops, and often ran on existing city streets. Our local system operated for nearly 50 years from Parkersburg to Marietta and northwest to Beverly. It ended shortly after this photo (maybe this was its final run), replaced by buses and automobiles.
The steamboats revolutionized freight and passenger transport for industry in the 1800s. Dredging and lock and dam systems opened many rivers for steamboats – and for recreation. Both the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers have such improvements. But steam powered towboats like OMAR were being displaced by more powerful and cost efficient diesel powered towboats. Today, towboats and other carriers on inland waterways move 15% of total freight in the United States. The OMAR, named for the coal mining town Omar WV, was similar to the W P SNYDER JR boat moored at the Ohio River Museum. OMAR was "phased out" as a towboat pushing coal barges in 1961. But then, when most similar boats were scrapped, she began an amazing encore career as a museum and showboat. OMAR was enlarged and renamed RHODODENDRON for the West Virginia Centennial celebration on 1962-63. She moved to Clinton Iowa in 1966 and entertains audiences today as the CITY OF CLINTON Showboat Theater.
What do you see in the photo? Hotel Lafayette is on the right, the Dime Savings Society clock on the left. Most of the cars shown are 1930s vintage. Automakers in 1947 were just starting to make new vehicles after WW II. Look at the paddle wheel on OMAR. It's not moving. Why? The barely visible rowboat at the shore gives a clue; crew members are transferring to or from the boat. They still do similar crew transfers between stops today.
