Category: Historical Event

Visit the Shanty Boat Folks

Date: Saturday, April 3 2021

Come visit the shanty boat folks docked at the Ohio River Museum and step back into the 1930s for a look at what it was like to live on the river.

During the Great Depression, many people were left without jobs or homes and the river offered new opportunities. Building floating homes out of salvaged materials these shanty boat people could travel from river town to river town looking for work. Occasionally they would find dockage for longer periods where they could raise a garden or have chickens. These were the original floating tiny houses, now almost extinct. The shanty boat has landed and visitors are welcome.