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What happened to the Wawaset Date published: 12/1/2009 By Rob Hedelt THE hot, sultry day in 1873 started with excitement and promise for the passengers who crowded onto the steamboat Wawaset for a ferry excursion down the Potomac River from Washington. With a new saloon operating on the top deck, the 129-foot wooden paddle-wheeler was licensed for only 50 passengers, but that didn't stop the crew from loading 150 or so for the day's trip. Black passengers were segregated, seated on back decks with livestock and produce, while most white passengers were in the front of the boat. Heading upriver briefly after a Maryland stop, the steamboat was nearing Chatterton's Landing in King George County, about five miles south of Aquia Creek, when tragedy struck. A fireman onboard discovered flames in the engine room, in the middle of the boat. The blaze spread quickly before the untrained crew could get the two lifeboats loaded and in the water. The captain ordered the steamboat forward at normal speed, to be grounded in shallow water. But passengers aft, unaware of the strategy and unable to see the shore, jumped overboard into deep water. Most drowned there, in a section of the Potomac River that today still has some of the swiftest flow. In all, 76 passengers died, most of them women and children. People on the wharf and shore could only watch as the massive ship was engulfed in flames. One report said the scene on board was horrific, with passengers' clothing catching fire and some people crushed as advancing flames produced a stampede. Another witness reported three children hanging on to the ship's rudder chain, too terrified to let go, killed one by one by the searing heat. For days, bodies washed ashore, many of them never to be identified. I hadn't heard about this local steamboat tragedy. The King George Historical Society put out details of a new book on the topic and an event connected to it Sunday 1:30-4 p.m. at Caledon Natural Area in King George County. The book, "Disaster on the Potomac: The Last Run of the Steamboat Wawaset," was written and researched by Alvin Oickle.
Date published: 12/1/2009
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