Inductees

National Rivers Hall of Fame Inductees

Hall of Fame inductees are the pioneers, explorers and artists in America's river history. They were movers and shakers from the days gone by and the recent past. These men and women made significant contributions related to America’s rivers, which is why we honor them.

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The Builders

William Hopkins

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Inducted in 1992

William Hopkins grew up and served as an apprentice in the shipyards of Glasgow, Scotland, the birthplace of the iron shipbuilding industry. In the 1860’s, he immigrated to America and built iron clad monitors for the U. S. Navy. Hopkins arrive in Dubuque, Iowa in 1867 as a master mechanic for the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad.

In 1870, Hopkins revolutionized steamboat building on the western rivers with the construction of the steamer Clyde, the first iron hull steamboat on the Mississippi River. During Hopkins’ thirty year career, the Iowa Iron Works built many noteworthy metal-hulled steamboats, including the Betsy Ann, the railroad transfer ferry Pelican, the towboat Sprague, a pleasure steamer for the King of Siam (Thailand) and an ocean-going torpedo boat for the U. S. Navy.

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