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Long before Ohio 60 connected Marietta and Zanesville up the east side of the Muskingum, and before the railroad and the Doodlebug connected the two cities on the west side, the steamboat Buckeye Belle provided regular service between the two cities in the middle of the 1800s.
The voyage on Nov. 12, 1852, was a normal trip as the Buckeye Belle made its way up the river. The boat was 151 by 22 feet and drew five feet of water. Built at the Knox boatyard in Marietta, it had only gone into service on May 15. It was designed to make the trip between Marietta and Zanesville three times per week and was built to fit into the Muskingum River lock chambers, most of which are 184 feet long and 66 feet wide. For comparison, the modern-day Valley Gem is 157 feet long by 25 feet wide.
Rolling along at a few miles an hour, the beams of the paddlewheels made a rhythmic sound as they struck the water. Carrying both goods and people, the boat would pause to pass through each of the newly built locks as it traveled up and down the river.
On that day, it left Marietta, likely passing through lock one that was then on the Harmar side of the river. A few miles upriver it would pass through the Devola lock and then the Lowell lock before entering the first of several canals along the river. The canals were designed to separate the locks from the dams and formed small man-made islands. At Beverly, it passed through lock number four and was up the long canal toward a guard gate at the top of the island.
It was nearly ready to exit the canal when one of the worst explosions in Washington County history tore through the wood cabins of the boat, killing 20 and changing the lives of many others. So horrific was the accident that many of those killed were never identified.
The Marietta Intelligencer printed a detailed description of the disaster on Nov. 17. "Both boilers are torn into fragments, some of which were thrown 300 feet from the wreck. All the boat forward of the wheelhouse was entirely swept away -- not the cabin merely, but the deck and everything but the plank on the hull. Of the entire front half of the boat, there are not pieces enough left to make a chicken coop six feet square. The chairs and all the articles of furniture, except the piano, are split into pieces.
"The largest single piece of a boiler which has been found is from ten to twelve feet long. This piece was thrown back, and in its passage cut off every stanchion and upright timber between the bow and stern of the boat, and of course the whole of the ladies' cabin fell with a crash to the deck.
"Pieces of the boat and the remains of the passengers were found on the island, the nearby road and the hillside facing the canal.
"A red-hot brick was thrown up the hill more than 300 feet and fired the leaves in the woods. A rabbit was killed by the fall of a brick nearly 400 feet from the boat."
Reports published later blamed the explosion on the actions of the crew, with one report claiming that a crew member was using his body weight to hold a safety valve closed shortly before the explosion.
An investigation determined that that crew member's actions were the cause of the explosion. Other crew members were cleared of any wrongdoing.
Today an historical monument near Lock number 4 commemorates the event, believed to be the worst disaster in Muskingum River history. A marker in the Beverly Cemetery marks the spot where 13 bodies that were not identified are buried.
Published reports at the time said there were 47 passengers on board the boat when it exploded. The grave marker indicates there were 20 killed and 40 injured, this number would have included the crew of the boat.
One would think that the disaster would mean the end of the Buckeye Belle. It wasn't. By 1857, the boat was rebuilt and back in service, this time running on the Ohio River. On Nov. 26, 1857, the boilers on the boat exploded again, this time near Columbus, Ky. Thankfully, that time, there was no loss of life. Way's Packet Directory, 1848-1994, has no record of the boat operating after that.
Art Smith is the online manager of The Times. He can be reached at asmith@mariettatimes.com