Flatboat
![George Caleb Bingham, Jolly Flatboatmen in Port, (1857, St. Louis Art Museum)](/Images/godic/202501/02/George_Caleb_Bingham_-_Jolly_Flatboatmen_in_Port1347.jpg")
![An Alfred Waud engraving showing persons traveling down a river by flatboat in the late 1800s.](/Images/godic/202501/02/Traveling-by-flatboat-engraving-by-Alfred-R-Waud1347.png")
![Flatboats among the river traffic at New Orleans, 1873](/Images/godic/202501/02/Mississippi_River_at_New_Orleans_1873_Measom1347.jpg")
A flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it is large, sturdy tub with a hull that displaces water and so floats in the water. This differentiates the flatboat from the raft, which floats on the water.