Jeff Boat

Jeffboat was a shipyard in Jeffersonville, Indiana founded by James Howard in 1834, a builder of steamboats. The company was owned by the Howard family until it was sold leading up to World War II. Following the war, it became known as the Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Company and later changed its name to Jeffboat, the more commonly used short form of its name.

Jeffboat once boasted it was the largest inland shipyard in the country. Workers have built steamboats, barges, casino boats and LSTs for the U.S. Navy.

Jeffboat, one of the largest inland shipbuilders in the country, is closing its doors. President and CEO Mark Knoy said in a statement it will close after it finishes construction of remaining ...

"Blue drydock at JEFFBOAT, Jeffersonville, Indiana" A close-up look at the American Commercial Barge Company's JEFFBOAT facility on the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Shipbuilding is a capital intensive and highly competitive business. Remarkably, Jeffboat of Jeffersonville, Indiana, lasted for 184 years. Now, the longest continually operated inland shipyard in the U.S., is reported to be shutting down. Founded in 1834 on the banks of the Ohio River by steamboat builder James Howard, the yard built 3,000 ships in its first 107 years.