Issue Date: March 3, 1989
City: New Orleans, LA
Quantity: 40,996,800
Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Lithographed and engraved
Perforations: 11
Color: Multicolored

 

When James Watt improved the steam engine in 1769, it led to the first steamboat being developed in France 14 years later. The real turning point for steam-powered boats came in 1807, when Robert Fulton built the North River Steamboat, later renamed the Clermont. It was a long, low vessel powered by a Watt engine, and its extraordinary commercial success was a historic event. The Postal Service honors the development of the commercial steamboat with a booklet pane of five different steamboats.