Steamboat/Steamship Timetables
Steamboat/steamship timetables are wonderful resources to get a grasp on how these machines were able to move people along large bodies of water. These timetables can give us clues to answer questions like:
- How long would a journey have taken?
- What connections could be made, once you were off the boat?
- What water routes were the most popular?
Please see below, for examples of steamship/steamboat timetables that can be useful to your research. Make sure to also review newspapers, guidebooks, and city directories to find these timetables.
Catalog Tips
When searching for bus timetables in our Online Research Catalog, we recommend the following keyword or subject search:
- steamboat lines timetables [area of interest]
In addition, since not all materials will be indexed under "steamboat lines," or will be found inside another resource, searching under
- guidebooks [place of interest]
can provide additional resources that host this type of information.
Similar keyword searches can be utilized in other digital repositories, such as Hathi Trust.
As noted above, timetables are also often time found within periodicals. As such, check out our Timetables main tab, to see how you can locate periodicals through New York Public Library's databases.
In addition, make sure to also review the listings under Railroad Timetables, many of which also include steamboat/steamship information.
A Selection of Steamboat/Steamship Timetables
- Disturnell's American & European railway and steamship guide; giving the arrangements an all the great lines of travel through the United States and Canada; across the Atlantic Ocean, and throughout central Europe. Also ... a ... description of the principal places in England, France, etc. 1851
- TPRD (Disturnell, J. Disturnell's American & European railway)
- Includes regional lines within the United States.
- Disturnell's American and European railway and steamship guide, giving the arrangements on all the great lines of travel through the United States and Canada, across the Atlantic ocean, and throughout central Europe. Also containing a brief description of the principal places in England, France, etc. 1853
- Available digitally via HathiTrust- Library of Congress/Harvard University
- Includes regional lines within the United States.
- Disturnell's American and European railway and steamship guide [electronic resource]. 1855
- Available digitally via HathiTrust- University of Alberta
- Includes regional lines within the United States.
- Railway and steamship guide, giving the railroad and steamboat arrangements ... on all the routes diverging from ... Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston; also, the ocean steamship arrangements ... 1865
- HE2727.D64
- Digitized version available via HathiTrust- Princeton University
- Includes regional lines within the United States.
- The international railway and steam navigation guide. 1871
- TPT-D (International railway and steam navigation guide) no. 83 (1871)
- "Containing the time tables of all Canadian railways, the principal railroads in the United States, maps of the principal lines, and inland steam navigation routes." [Description based on: no. 160 (Dec. 1877)].
- Official steamship & airways guide international, 1932-1963
- TRA+ (Official steamship & airways guide international)
- OAG cruise and shipline guide, 1991-1993
- JSP 91-335
- Overseas timetable = Indicateur outremer = Überseeischer Fahrplan = Horario ultramarino. 2005-2010
- JSL 00-6
- "Railway, road and shipping services for America, Africa, Asia, Australasia"--Cover.
- Thomas Cook world timetables. Overseas timetable. 1980-1999
- JSP 84-73
- Thomas Cook world timetables. Overseas timetable. 2000-2004
- JSL 00-6