Bidwell & Banta: Pioneer Great Lakes Shipbuilders

By Joseph Rennie - April 15, 2003

One hundred and fifty years ago Buffalo's Bidwell & Banta shipyard built some of the largest and most luxurious wooden side-wheel steamboats in the world. These "Palace Steamers" rivaled the best of the ocean-going steamers of the Atlantic coast and were part of the romance of Buffalo's role as the gateway to the west.

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Bidwell & Banta: Pioneer Great Lakes Shipbuilders