Disaster on the Potomac: The Last Run of the Steamboat Wawaset

by Alvin F. Oickle

For passengers of the steamboat Wawaset, August 8, 1873, began with a pleasant cruise from Washington, D.C., down the Potomac River. As the Wawaset came into sight of a small Virginia landing, fire broke out below decks, and frantic passengers leapt from the flames only to be pulled down by the swift waters. Author Alvin F. Oickle puts a human face to the tragedy as he profiles some of the seventy-five who perished, among them young mother Alethea Gray and six members of the Reed family. With a fast-paced style and firsthand accounts, Oickle masterfully narrates the last run of the Wawaset against the backdrop of a tense post-Civil War society.

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2009

Reviews

[Tom Darrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent, semi-professionally written bit of local history. I've lived in the DC area my whole life and had never heard of the Wawaset disaster. The author does somewhat develop that point, that steamboat disasters were somewhat common during that period and the government made a half-hearted attempt to investigate it, but it went nowhere.

The author does a fair job at incorporating personal experiences of some of the survivors and victims, and providing background to their lives, but for many, the records are too scanty. The book contains many pictures, but most are only tangentially related to the topic. Few pictures of the actual ship exist, so the author is forced to rely on pictures of other ships of the era and buildings, like churches where people were buried.

Overall, this book is what it is. I knew, going in, that this was not going to be a polished, professionally written book. It was a quick read, and I learned a bit more about the area.