County of site: Pulaski County
Location of site: Ohio River Scenic Byway (IL-37) & 4th St., E. side of Rd., Mounds City
Marker erected by: The State of Illinois
Date erected: 1935
Marker Text:
THE MARINE WAYS
During the Civil War the Naval Depot of the Western River Fleet was located at Mound City. Here the keels of three of the famous Eads Ironclad gunboats were laid, and a large force of workmen were employed to keep the fleet in fighting trim. The Marine Ways, still in operation, are 400 yards south of here.
"In 1855 the Emporium Real Estate and Manufacturing Company was organized for the
purpose of building a great and thriving metropolis in southern Illinois on the Ohio River.
The company received $1,500,000, came to Illinois, purchased a large section of land
near the newly platted town of Mound City, and named its development Emporium City.
The financial backers from large cities in the East had big hopes for the city. In the
original plan, there was even room for the capital of the United States. The company built
several warehouses, a foundry, houses, and a shipyard. The company soon went
bankrupt, however. In 1857, Emporium City and Mound City joined together under the
name Mound City. The newly formed town soon grew quickly and served important
purposes in the Civil War.
"The shipyard or marine ways the Company completed in 1859 was then sold to
Hambleton, Collier & Company. The first boat built at the ways was the R.H.W. Hill.
From 1861 to 1874 the Hambleton Company leased the ways to the United States
government for $40,000 a year. The ways were used to build and repair ships and convert
steamers into armored vessels. Three famous ironclad gunboats built there in 1861, under
the supervision of James Eads, were the U.S.S. Cairo, the U.S.S. Mound City, and the
U.S.S. Cincinnati. These gunboats were used soon to help facilitate the Union victories at
such important places as Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. Some of the boats repaired at the
shipyards were the U.S.S. Essex, the U.S.S. Pittsburgh, U.S.S. Lexington. U.S.S.
Eastport and the U.S.S. Carondelet. Andrew H. Foote's flagship, the U.S.S. Benton was
also serviced at the ways. At its height during the Civil War, the ways employed as many
as fifteen hundred men. In addition, in 1863 the U. S. Navy's Mississippi River Squadron
moved to Mound City. The fleet included one hundred gunboats, twenty-two transports,
thirty-two mortar boats, and eight tugs.
"In 1874, the United States government gave the Mound City Marine Ways back to
its owner. Even though the buildings of the shipyard burned down in 1879, construction
at the ways continued until the 1970s. Altogether, "Twenty-seven large ships and as
many as 6,000 floating structures were built at the shipyards...", according to one
account. Today, all that remains of the ways from the Civil War era are some sliding
ramps, rails, and some concrete foundations. In 2001 the area was placed on the state's
top ten most endangered historic sites."
~ Mound City, Illinois