Model John Stevens' "Little Juliana"
date: label: date made
content: 1902
name: label: maker
content: Smithsonian Institution
notes: label: Description
content: This is a scale model of John Stevens' 1804 twin-screw steamboat “Little Juliana.” It has a scale of 2”-1.0’ with an oak hull that is 49 1/2" long and 4 ½” deep and has a 12 ½” beam. The boiler and engine are constructed of brass and their surfaces have been blackened. The model stands an overall height of 12 ½” high. This model was made at a workshop at the United States National Museum in 1902 by John Schultzback.
label: Description
content: John Stevens (1749-1838) was a nineteenth century inventor and pioneer of steam-powered engines ultimately used in boats and railroad cars by the end of the nineteenth century. He was born in New York, educated at King’s College, and served in the American Revolutionary War as a Colonel. Around 1787, inspired by inventor John Fitch’s experimental steamboat, Stevens began to work on his own steam engine design. In 1790, Stevens persuaded Congress to pass the first American patent law and on August 26, 1791, he received one of first patents for an application of steam power.
label: Description
content: In 1804, Stevens built the “Little Juliana,” the 32-foot ship that this model demonstrates. The “Little Juliana” was one of the first American-built steam engines and notably included the innovations of the dual rotary valves and a twin-screw propeller. Stevens’ ship successfully navigated New York Harbor at a velocity of four miles an hour that same year. Though efficient steam transportation would require screw propulsion, a technological feat not yet achievable due to a lack of high-pressure boilers, Steven’s ship was a key creation in the innovation of steam transportation, both on water and land.
label: Description
content: Three years later in 1807, Stevens built the “Phoenix,” a 50-foot-long paddle-steamer that became the first steamboat to sail the open ocean during its journey from New York City to Philadelphia. Around 1810, Stevens began to focus on the use of steam engines for railroads, constructing a steam locomotive that operated on a circular track at his New Jersey home. While this locomotive was not used for commercial service, it is regarded as the first locomotive built in America, and Stevens is often known as the “Father of the American Railroad.” John Stevens’ descendants continued to be on the forefront of engineering during the nineteenth century and are known as “America’s First Family of Inventors.”
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
label: Exhibition
content: Power Machinery
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.160306
label: catalog number
content: 160306
label: accession number
content: 1982.0229
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Engine, Steam, Boat
label: Object Name
content: engine, steam, boat model
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall height: 12 1/2 in; 31.75 cm
label: Measurements
content: hull: 49 1/2 in x 4 1/2 in; 125.73 cm x 11.43 cm
label: Measurements
content: beam: 12 1/2 in; 31.75 cm