This book is exclusive to the Steamboat Era Museum. Steam-Driven is a lushly illustrated book that tells the quintessential American stories of the steamboat era on the Chesapeake Bay. Beginning in 1813 with the launch of the steamboat Chesapeake on the Chesapeake Bay, steamers were an integral part of life in the Northern Neck. They served as excursion vessels for fun and romance. They hard-working boats that hauled oysters, produce and livestock to market. The steamers were a lifeline to the outside world, delivering newspapers, mail and visitors. By 1937, when the Anne Arundel made her last overnight trip from Baltimore to Fredericksburg and back, the steamboat era was at end. But the economy and culture of the region had been reshaped forever.