Farmer
River/Bay Packet Steamer · United States · Lost 1853 · Texas & the Western Gulf
A Buffalo Bayou packet steamer whose boilers exploded during a nighttime race with a rival vessel on Galveston Bay in 1853, killing roughly 32 people.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Farmer was one of the steam packets that plied the rivalrous Galveston-to-Houston run along Buffalo Bayou in the early 1850s. During the night of March 1853, Farmer was racing another packet, Neptune, when her boilers exploded about ten miles up Galveston Bay from Galveston, destroying the vessel. Neptune, then leading the race, turned back to rescue survivors and carried them to Galveston. The disaster, one of the deadliest steamboat accidents on the Texas coast, is attributed to the informal but dangerous racing culture among competing bay packets.
Vessel
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- Steam
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Loss
- March 23, 1853
- Mechanical failure
- About 10 miles up Galveston Bay from Galveston, Texas
- Galveston Bay
- Houston, Texas (Buffalo Bayou) → Galveston, Texas
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- 32
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The Wreck Today
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Position
- 29.57° N 94.94° W
- General area only
- Galveston Bay, Texas
General area only: coordinate of Galveston Bay, the named body of water recorded as the loss location for this vessel, from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, not a surveyed wreck position.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (65/100)
The exact date (March 23 versus March 26-27) and precise casualty count vary between sources and are not fully resolved.
Date, cause, casualty range, rescue by Neptune.
USGS Geographic Names Information System — Galveston Bay
coordinate of the named place of loss
