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Steamboats

When J. C. Coovert came to the Yazoo/Mississippi Delta he entered an "interior frontier," an inland archipelago surrounded by water. Settlement before the Civil War existed only along the rivers and their largest tributaries. Overland transportation was nearly impossible in the swampy interior. Steamboats provided the only practical means of transport. And yet, the cotton industry developed so swiftly in the Delta that the Mississippi Valley and Yazoo Railroad skirted the Mississippi River by the 1890s, signaling the end to the era of the paddlewheel steamboats.

The steamer Henry Marks,. with barges, taking cotton seed at Sunnyside Landing on Mississippi River, October 1893. Coovert No. 429. Sunnyside Plantation Album.
Mississippi River waterfront at Memphis.
Dye Collection

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"In Search of J.C. Coovert" An illustrated lecture on the life and work of J.C. Coovert by Jane Adams and D. Gorton

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    Mississippi River waterfront at Memphis. "Photo by Coovert # 214".
    Dye Collection
    Steamer Katie Robbins loaded with cotton. Signed "CoovertG-ville, Miss. # 489 "
    Collection of     the Old County Court House Museum, Vicksburg, Mississippi.
    Steamer Annie Laurie taking on passengers. Signed "Coovert. G-ville, Miss. #509"
    Collection of the Old County Court House Museum, Vicksburg, Mississippi.
    Steamer Katie Robbins taking on cargo, Yazoo, Mississippi.
    Collection of the Old County Court House Museum, Vicksburg, Mississippi
    Steamer Peters Lee taking on cotton, Memphis, Tenn. Second boat: City of St. Joseph. Signature in lower right hand corner obscured: "Coovert, Memphis, #1206". Re-signed upper left, "W. R. McKay".
    Collection of the Memphis/Shelby County Library.
    Mule cart loaded with cotton bales on levee.
    Brashier  Collection
    Warehousing bales of cotton before shipping. Photo by Coovert # 1084
    Brashier Collection
    Steamboats J. N. Harbin on left and Sadie Lee on right being off-loaded . Photo by Coovert # 1114.
    Brashier Collection
    Steamboats J.N. Harbin in center and the Kate Adams on the right. Photo by Coovert.
    Brashier Collection.
    Steamboat P.T. Leathers. 4000 bales entering Memphis Harbor. Photo by Coovert # 312.
    Collection of the Rick Brashier