Alligator

The Alligator was an inboard paddle-wheel steamboat that operated in the interior of Central Florida in the United States from 1888 to 1909. Archeologist Clarence Bloomfield Moore leased the steamer each year from 1891 to 1895 for his annual excursions to explore the St. Johns River and tributaries for Native American artifacts. On 5 November 1909, the paddle-steamer caught fire and sank ending its 21 years of service in the passenger and freight business. In December 2008, the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program led a search of the east side of Crescent Lake for the sunken wreckage of the Alligator. Design and construction The Ocklawaha River was a primary route of transportation in Central Florida during the years after the Civil War until railroads reached the area. Previously foreign to the region, small, compact steamboats evolved to service the narrow, winding river. The boats were fitted with an inboard stern paddle wheel to aid in navigating the narrow, thickly treed, and weedy waterways. The Alligator was constructed for Captain C. W. Howard for use in a commercial passenger and freight operation on the Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers. On 7 October 1888, Alligator was launched on the west bank of St. Johns River at Norwalk. It measured long, wide, deep, and was 27.71 gross tons. Originally, a propeller was installed between two skegs under the transom. The vessel was "a patchwork of parts from other steamboats". During the boat's 21 years of service, the paddle-steamer was rebuilt by several different owners. A Certificate of Enrollment issued on 21 January 1890, when ownership of the steamboat was transferred to brothers Charles B. and Benjamen Wade shows a rebuild in 1889. The paddle-steamer was lengthened to . It weighed 66.21 gross tons and was modified to have a recessed stern wheel instead of a propeller. According to a 13 January 1894, Certificate of Enrollment, the steamboat was lengthened to with a gross weight of 69.60 tons with "an enlarged cabin deck running the full length of the boat above the boiler deck" and a larger captain's cabin. The Alligator's final rebuild occurred in 1906. The reconfiguration made the boat more suitable for local freight and passenger trips rather than more lengthy transport. The cabin deck was removed and replaced with an open deck running half the length of the boat; with the pilot house and captain's cabin placed on that same level. Operation