Cape Charles was established in 1884 as the southern terminus of the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad. The collection consists of photographs showing the early development of Cape Charles. Views of the wharf and harbor areas and the steamship "Cape Charles" built by Harlin and Hollingsworth of Wilmington, Delaware, comprise nearly half the collection.

Captain C.E. (Clarence Edward) "Bim" Argyle (1927-2006) was a riverboat captain for Consolidation Coal and a World War II Navy veteran. He worked primarily on steamers and coal barges along the Monongahela River in Western Pennsylvania. These two albums record Argyle's river experience between 1943 and 1950. There are portraits of his co-workers as well as many photographs of numerous commercial boats.

James Crosby Brown, Jr., was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1929 and spent most of his life in Philadelphia, where he pursued a career in business. After retiring in 1981, he turned full-time to his life-long avocation of maritime history. This collection consists of copy photographs of steamboats, many on the Schuylkill River.

Major Reybold was an iron excursion steamer, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This collection contains a photographic copy print of a painting of the steamship.

The Metropolitan Steamship Co. was a steamship line which provided service between Boston and New York and later between San Francisco and Los Angeles. This item is a prnt of the steamship "General Whitney" from the Metropolitan Steamship Co.'s Outside Line between New York and Boston.

The Waterworks in Cooperstown, New York was built on the side of a mill in 1870, with an addition built in 1890. The ship "Mohican" was built circa 1900 and scrapped in 1936. This collection consists of two items: one black and white photograph of Waterworks, Cooperstown, New York and black and white postcard view of ship "Mohican."

Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) was a French political economist, writer, publisher, and public administrator. He was an advocate for a national educational system and promoted Franco-American trade relations. The collection consists of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours correspondence and writings in addition to correspondence of his second wife, Françoise (Robin) Poivre.

In the ninteenth century, steamboats revolutionized river transportation of people and goods because they could swiftly traverse rivers regardless of current. A mystique was created by the dangers they faced: explosions, sinkings, Indian attacks and daring races. This is a pane of commemorative stamps showing four steamboats: Sylvan Dell, Robert E. Lee, Rebecca Everingham, Bailey Gatzert.

The Wilson Lines was a steamboat company that was popular for traveling between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wilmington, Delaware and Riverview Beach, New Jersey. This small collection of copy photographs contains mostly exterior views of several Wilson Lines steamboats between 1890 and 1955.