Arabia Rises
PITTSBURGH — A new exhibit showcases nearly 2,000 objects from the Pittsburgh-built Steamboat Arabia, which sank in the Missouri River and was rediscovered 130 years later.
The Senator John Heinz History Center presents “Pittsburgh's Lost Steamboat: Treasures of the Arabia.”
Built in Brownsville and finished in Pittsburgh in 1853, the Steamboat Arabia traveled extensively to frontier towns along the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
The vessel's 200 tons of cargo included more than 1 million objects bound for general stores and pioneer settlements in the American West.
During its final journey in 1856, the Arabia hit a tree snag and sank near Kansas City, Mo.
In 1988 treasure hunters rediscovered the Arabia buried 45 feet below a cornfield a half-mile from the river. The oxygen-free environment preserved most of the boat's cargo: fine dishware, clothing, even bottled food.
The exhibit, presented with the Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City, explores Pittsburgh's role as the Gateway to the West and a national hub for steamboat building industry in the mid-19th century.
Highlights include:
• An immersive exhibit entrance where visitors venture through a cornfield to discover some of the first artifacts unearthed
• A life-size replica of the Steamboat Arabia's 28-foot paddle wheel
• Interactive stations where young visitors can stamp their own “Build-a-Steamboat” cards and navigate through the snags of the Missouri River
• Several Sharps Model 1853 rifles
• A lifelike museum figure of the Steamboat Arabia's only casualty: a carpenter's mule that sank along with the vessel.
The show is the first traveling exhibition featuring items from the Arabia collection and represents the first time the boat's objects have returned to Western Pennsylvania since 1853.
The exhibit is on display through Jan. 4, 2015, and is included with regular center admission of $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $6 for students and children ages 6 to 17.
For information, call 412-454-6000 or visit www.heinzhistorycenter.org.
