''General Jackson'' is a

riverboat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury ...

—more specifically, a

showboat A showboat, or show boat, was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the river frontiers. This special type of riverboat ...

—based on the

Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. ''General Jackson'' was named after another

of the same name that was built in 1817; that boat was in turn named for

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

. The modern boat was originally an attraction at the Opryland USA theme park. The park closed in 1997, but the boat remains in service, docking at Pennington Bend near the

Opry Mills Opry Mills is a super-regional shopping mall in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The mall was owned by the Mills Corporation and Gaylord Entertainment Company until 2007, when the Mills Corporation was acquired by Simon Property Group. It o ...

shopping center A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

that replaced the park. In addition to Opry Mills, the dock is located near the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

House and the

Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, formerly known as Opryland Hotel, is a hotel and convention center located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties (formerly known as Gaylord Entertainment Company), and ...

. The original captains were Captain E.A. Poe and Captain William Howell.

Specifications

''General Jackson'' was built by Jeffboat in

Jeffersonville, Indiana Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio Riv ...

and launched in 1985. Though built to resemble a vintage

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

-powered riverboat, it is actually powered by

diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of an engine generator. A diesel compress ...

s which power two electric motors, which in turn propel a , 36-ton sternwheel. The boat has a capacity of 1,200 passengers and 157 crew members. She is long ( with gangway extended), has a beam (width), is tall with her folding smokestacks fully extended (the folding stacks are necessary because of low

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

clearances), and has a

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of .

Shows

''General Jackson'' is designed to recreate the showboats that plied the waters of American rivers in the 19th century. Several different shows are presented during the primary March–December season, with two cruises usually taken each day. Evening cruises normally feature dining as well. Most cruises feature the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

for which the Opry is known, though variety musicals and

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

are also featured. The boat occasionally ventures from its home port of Nashville. In October 2006, ''General Jackson'' took part in the

Tall Stacks Tall Stacks, formally known as the Tall Stacks Music, Arts, and Heritage Festival, was a festival held every three or four years in the Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, area, which celebrated the city's heritage of the riverboat. The sixth (and, to date, f ...

riverboat heritage festival in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio.

References

External links

General Jackson official web site
{{coord, 36.2038, -86.6952, type:landmark, display=title Culture of Nashville, Tennessee General Jackson Ships built in Jeffersonville, Indiana Transportation in Nashville, Tennessee Tourist attractions in Tennessee 1985 ships Tourist attractions in Nashville, Tennessee Ryman Hospitality Properties