The Herman T. Pott National Inland Waterways Library is a special library within the St. Louis Mercantile Library, at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, which is one of America's great historical research libraries, serving St. Louis and the nation since 1846.
The Mercantile Library was founded by a group of businessmen who possessed a deep interest in the close relationship to the nation's inland rivers, particularly the Mississippi. Throughout its history, individuals active in waterways businesses have been associated with the Library. In 1985, the Mercantile Library built upon this long heritage of association with the rivers by greatly expanding its waterways-related holdings, and establishing the Herman T. Pott National Inland Waterways Library.
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Pott Library History
The Lost St. Louis Riverfront 1930-1943: Including Photographs of Individual Buildings & Building Occupancies With Historical Background and Detail. A book by Thomas C. Grady, published by the Mercantile Library
The Steamer Admiral and Streckfus Steamers: A Personal View. A book for sale by Annie Amantea Blum, published by the Mercantile Library
A Visual Guide to the Curator's Office (13 Page, 2 MB, PDF)
Alphabetical listing of Special Collections
| Collection Name | Collection Number | Shelving Location |
|---|---|---|
| Book and Periodical Holdings | ||
| The Waterways Journal Collection | P-1 | Archives |
| Federal Barge Lines Collection | P-2 | Archives |
| Ruth Ferris Collection of River Life and Lore | P-3 | Archives |
| Jim Swift Collection | P-4 | Archives |
| Dorothy Heckmann Shrader Collection | P-5 | Archives |
| John A. Creedy Papers and Photographs Collection | P-6 | Archives |
| Captain Thomas E. Kenny Photograph Collection | P-7 | Archives |
| Ray Covington Photograph Collection | P-8 | Archives |
| American Waterways Operators (AWO) Collection | P-9 | Archives |
| Greene Line Collection | P-10 | Archives |
| William F. and Betty Streckfus Carroll Collection | P-11 | Archives |
| Claude Strauser, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District Collection | P-12 | Depository |
| "Names of Steamboats" Compiled by Capt. F. L. (Fielding) Wooldridge | P-13 | Archives |
| Bill Williams Bridge Collection | P-14 | Depository |
| National Waterways Conference, Inc. | P-15 | Archives |
| Neil H. Whitehead Marine Collection | P-16 | Archives |
| Anton Drabik Collection | P-17 | Archives |
| Franklin A. Phillips Photograph Collection | P-18 | Archives |
| Richard C. Brasington Photograph Collection | P-19 | Archives |
| Captain G. W. Hill Letters | P-20 | Archives |
| Kanawha River Steamboat Ledgers and Logbooks Collection | P-21 | Archives |
| Vessel Models | P-22 | Archives |
| Ronald Mueller Photograph Collection | P-23 | Archives |
| Msgr. Edward Eichor Collection | P-24 | Archives |
| Golden Eagle River Museum Collection | P-25 | Archives |
| Capt. Donald T. Wright Collection | P-26 | Archives |
| Capt. Roy A. Miller Collection | P-27 | Archives |
| John Miller Collection | P-28 | Archives |
| John Hartford Collection | P-29 | Archives |
| Rose Barge Line Collection | P-30 | Archives |
| Diary of Charles de Hault de Lassus | P-31 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Argo-Keiser Family Collection | P-32 | Archives |
| Missouri River Steamboat Journey Manuscript, 1857 | P-33 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Diary of Riverboat Deckhand Charles Allen Smith, Kept on a Trip Down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River to New Orleans and Back, dated 1885-1886 | P-34 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Bickel Steamboat Newspaper Clippings Collection | P-35 | Archives |
| George Kishmar Collection of Missouri, Gasconade and Osage River Life and Work | P-36 | Archives |
| Mary and Bob McCarthy Collection | P-38 | Archives |
| Waggaman Letter on Frontier Religion and Religious Belief | P-39 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Carl Norberg Yachting Collection | P-40 | Archives |
| Captain Curran and Suzy Streckfus Collection | P-41 | Archives |
| Bob Goodwin MARAD Collection | P-42 | Archives |
| Menzo Van Esveldt Steamboat Engravings | P-43 | Archives |
| Wilbur Charles Greaney Army Corps of Engineers Photographs | P-44 | Archives |
| J. L. McFeeters Journal | P-45 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| William Charles Redfield Letter | P-46 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| H. B. Munn Letter | P-47 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Carlton Kobush Blueprint Collection | P-48 | Archives |
| Michael L. Gillespie manuscript copy of Come Hell or High Water: Adventures of Steamboating on the Western Rivers | P-49 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Alan Bates Manuscript Copy of The Western Rivers Steamboat Cyclopedium | P-50 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| E. J. Carpenter Steamboat Photographs Collection | P-51 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Huntington and St. Louis Tow Boat Company Letter Book | P-52 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Ed Fry Naval Architecture Collection | P-53 | Archives |
| Civil War Ship Journals | P-54 | Vertical Files |
| Steamboat and River Ephemera Collection | P-55 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Robert and Tim Graul Delta Queen Photographs Collection | P-56 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Herman T. Pott Collection | P-57 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Chignecto Marine Transport Railway | P-58 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Katie M Towing Company Collection | P-59 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Captain Hoel Collection | P-60 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| M. L. Gerould Diary | P-61 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Act for the Government and Regulation of Seamen… | P-62 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Report of the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company | P-63 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Yellowstone Expedition Letter | P-64 | Vertical Files |
| Mississippi & Illinois River Canal (Hennepin Canal) Construction Photographs | P-65 | Vertical Files |
| C. W. Elder Collection | P-66 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Steamboat Mail Collection | P-67 | Curator's Office |
| Nicaragua Ship-Canal Route | P-68 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Cargo Tonnage List | P-69 | Vault |
| D.L. Stile Steamboat Journey Letter | P-70 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Ed Bigelow Civil War Letter | P-71 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| St. Keystone Ledger Book | P-72 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Delta Queen Logbooks | P-73 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Dan Owen Boat Photo Museum Collection | P-74 | Contact Curator |
| Flynn Log Book Collection | P-76 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| DESCO Diving Apparatus Information | P-77 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| River Holiday Card Collection | P-78 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Cairo, Il River Views Album | P-79 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| St. Louis Bridge Construction Album | P-80 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Robert Long Missouri River Commerce Collection | P-81 | Contact Curator |
| Small Steamboat Album | P-82 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Str. Bluff City Model Builder's Notes | P-83 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Captain Enos B. Moore Diaries and Correspondence | P-84 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Carpenter-Moore Family Riverboat Scrapbooks | P-85 | Transportation Archives |
| Frank Fiske Missouri River Photograph Album | P-86 | Vault 2 |
| 1943 Flood Photograph Album by Western Cartridge Company | P-87 | Transportation Archives |
| Coloney & Fairchild Ribbon Map of Mississippi River | P-88 | Vault 2 |
| Photograph Album of Muscatine, Iowa and Surrounding Area, 1899 | P-89 | Transportation Archives |
| John Lee & Company Trade Ledgers | P-90 | Transportation Archives |
| St. Louis Shipbuilding Scrapbook by Les Calvin | P-91 | Vault 2 |
| Mississippi Valley Barge Lines Photograph Collection | P-92 | Transportation Archives |
| Peter Nichols Diary and Correspondence Collection | P-93 | Transportation Archives |
| Henry Bruce Milroy Diary | P-94 | Transportation Archives |
| Photograph Album of Gayaso, Missouri, 1907 | P-95 | Transportation Archives |
| Annotated Vernacular Stereo Views of Missouri | P-96 | Transportation Archives |
| Captain Robert Sousley Correspondence Collection | P-97 | Transportation Archives |
| Robert Fulton Autographed Letter | P-100 | Transportation Archives |
| Ohio and Mississippi River Trade Correspondence | P-101 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| CSS Webb Civil War Correspondence | P-102 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Morse, William H. California Gold Rush Correspondence | P-103 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Gray, T. C. Osage Riverboat Runner Correspondence | P-104 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| 1851 Mississippi River Flood Correspondence | P-105 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Rollins, George Ohio River Steamboat Correspondence | P-106 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| J. H. Remmick & Company Business Ledgers | P-107 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Rates of Toll on the Junction Canal Broadside | P-108 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Cumberland and Oxford Canal Lottery Legislative Committee Reports | P-109 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Corps of Engineers Sketch Map of Missouri River | P-110 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Civil War Soldiers Diary Recording Service on the Mississippi River | P-111 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Hermann Distilling Company Letter Discussing Missouri River Flooding | P-112 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| McKinney Pennsylvania Canal Manuscript | P-113 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Wissahickon Railroad Bridge Print | P-114 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Steamer S. S. Prentiss Passenger Invoice | P-115 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Sheets, Harry H. Virginia Riverboat Letter | P-116 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Horner, W. W. River des Peres Construction Plan | P-117 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Ohio and Alabama Rivers Teaching Kit | P-118 | Curator's Office |
| Ohio River Navigation Charts | P-119 | Curator's Office |
| Book Advertisement | P-120 | Pott Drawer |
| Perry's Victory Broadside | P-121 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| William Hungate Letter to James Swift | P-122 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Postcards | P-123 | Pott Drawer |
| S. S. Hopkins | P-124 | Pott Drawer |
| Hull Inspector's Report | P-125 | Pott Drawer |
| Bridge Building in Great Lakes Region Photo Album | P-126 | Curator's Office |
| Constable Sale Broadside | P-127 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Letter from C. C. Curry to His Father | P-128 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Letter from Stillman Ruggles to C. Fischer Ruggles | P-129 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Rates of Military Transportation Broadside | P-130 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Proposed Change of Plan in the Execution of all River and Harbor Improvements | P-131 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Mathew Robinson Letters | P-132 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Memorandum of a Keel Boat Sale | P-133 | Curator's Office |
| Cassville, Wisconsin Steamboat Arrival Schedule Ledger | P-134 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| John Murray Mexico-American War Steamboats Letter | P-135 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| S. S. Admiral Souvenir Handkerchief | P-136 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| The Boatman of the Ohio | P-137 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Lemuel Shaw Steamboat Travel Letter | P-138 | Transportation Archives -- Vertical Files |
| Lloyd's Map of the Lower Mississippi River from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico | P-139 | Transportation Archives |
