Small and large steamboats and riverboats worked on lakes and rivers. The river was filled with steamboats, flatboats and sailing ships. The steamship was preceded by smaller vessels designed for insular transportation, called steamboats. It is located at Steamboat Landing, where steamboats from Cayuga Lake used to dock. In the days before steamboats, canals, railroads, etc. Henry Bradley Plant was founder of the Plant System of railroads and steamboats. Many were transported by steamboats along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It features steamboats, trains, airships and inventors. Five major commercial steamboats currently operate on the inland waterways of the United States. This lasted until 1863, when the arrival of steamboats and railways made it unnecessary. It was served by numerous river steamboats, that increased trading traffic on the rivers. The use of steamboats on major US rivers soon followed Fulton's 1807 success. In the Industrial Revolution, the first steamboats and later diesel-powered ships were developed. The culture of the Mississippi River and its steamboats captivated Hartford from an early age. These rapids were difficult for steamboats to traverse.