Editing Robert Fulton

{{Short description|American engineer and inventor (1765–1815)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox person 
| name          = Robert Fulton
| image         = File:Robert Fulton, 1806, London, England, painted by Benjamin West, American, 1738-1820 Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y. N0218.1961.jpg
| caption       = ''[[Portrait of Robert Fulton]]'' by [[Benjamin West]], 1806, now housed at the [[Fenimore Art Museum]] in [[Cooperstown, New York]]
| birth_name    = Robert Fulton
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1765|11|14}}
| birth_place   = [[Little Britain Township, Pennsylvania|Little Britain]], [[Province of Pennsylvania]], [[British America]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1815|2|24|1765|11|14}}
| death_place   = [[New York City]], U.S.
| spouse        = {{marriage|Harriet Livingston|January 8, 1808}}
| occupation    = Engineer, inventor, businessman
| known_for     = Steamboat, {{ship||Nautilus|1800 submarine}}
| years_active  = 1793–1815
| resting_place = [[Trinity Church Cemetery]]
|signature=Robert Fulton signature.svg
}}

'''Robert Fulton''' (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American [[engineer]] and [[inventor]] who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful [[steamboat]], the {{ship||North River Steamboat}} (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat traveled on the [[Hudson River]] with passengers from [[New York City]] to [[Albany, New York|Albany]] and back again, a round trip of {{convert|300|nmi|km|sigfig=2|abbr=off|sp=us}}, in 62 hours. The success of his steamboat changed river traffic and trade on major American rivers.

In 1800, Fulton had been commissioned by [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], leader of France, to attempt to design a submarine; he then produced {{ship||Nautilus|1800 submarine|2}}, the first practical [[submarine]] in history.<ref>American Treasures of the Library of Congress: [https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr024.html "Fulton's Submarine"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328020659/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr024.html |date=2009-03-28 }}</ref> Fulton is also credited with inventing some of the world's earliest naval [[torpedo]]es for use by the [[Royal Navy]].<ref name="Best">Best, Nicholas (2005). ''Trafalgar: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sea Battle in History''. London: Phoenix. {{ISBN|0-7538-2095-1}}.</ref>

Fulton became interested in [[steam engine]]s and the idea of steamboats in 1777 when he was around age 12 and visited state delegate [[William Henry (delegate)|William Henry]] of [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], who was interested in this topic. Henry had learned about inventor [[James Watt]] and his [[Watt steam engine]] on an earlier visit to [[England]].

==Early life==
[[File:FultonNautilus.jpg|thumb|A drawing of Fulton's invention {{ship||Nautilus|1800 submarine|2}}]]
Robert Fulton was born on [[Robert Fulton Birthplace|a farm]] in [[Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Little Britain, Pennsylvania]], on November 14, 1765. His father, Robert Fulton, married Mary Smith, daughter of Captain Joseph Smith and sister of Col. Lester Smith,<ref name=Reynolds1911/> a comparatively well off family.<ref name="Philip2003">{{cite book |last1=Philip |first1=Cynthia Owen |title=Robert Fulton: A Biography |date=2003 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=9780595262038 |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4zjI4-YrRE4C&pg=PA3 |access-date=8 November 2019 |language=en}}</ref> He had three sisters, Isabella,  Elizabeth, and Mary, and a younger brother, Abraham.<ref name="buckman">{{cite book|url=http://www.hrmm.org/diglib/oldsteam/chapter1.html |title=Old Steamboat Days on The Hudson River |first=David Lear |last=Buckman |publisher=The Grafton Press |year=1907 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826072827/http://www.hrmm.org/diglib/oldsteam/chapter1.html |archive-date=August 26, 2010 }}</ref>

For six years, he lived in [[Philadelphia]], where he painted portraits and landscapes, drew houses and machinery, and was able to send money home to help support his mother. In 1785, Fulton bought a farm at [[Hopewell Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania|Hopewell Township]] in [[Washington County, Pennsylvania|Washington County]] near [[Pittsburgh]] for £80 <!-- according to {{Inflation|UK|80|1785}}, £80 = £9,956 in 2018 pounds --> (equivalent to ${{To USD|9956|GBR|round=yes}} in 2018),{{Inflation/fn|UK}} and moved his mother and family into it.

==Career==
===Career in Europe (1786–1806)===
[[File:Fulton's submarine design.jpg|alt=Fulton's 1806 submarine design for the U.S. government|thumb|Fulton's 1806 submarine design for the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]]]]
[[File:Robert Fulton por HOUDON, Jean-Antoine 1803.jpg|thumb|An 1803 bust of Fulton by [[Jean-Antoine Houdon]]]]
[[File:Location and plaque of the Fulton experiment 9 August 1803.jpg|thumb|Location and plaque of Fulton's August 9, 1803, experiment]]
[[File:Plaque commémorative à Robert Fulton, Rouen.JPG|thumb|A 1918 commemorative plaque of Fulton in the port of [[Rouen]], thanking the United States for their involvement in [[World War I]]]]
In early 1786, Fulton developed symptoms of tuberculosis and was advised by an eminent doctor to take an ocean voyage for the benefit of his health.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sutcliffe |first=Alice |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/57742/57742-h/57742-h.htm#CHAPTER_XV |title=Robert Fulton |publisher=The Macmillan Company |year=1925 |location=New York}}</ref> Fulton traveled to Europe, where he would live for the next twenty years. He left for England in the autumn of 1786, carrying several letters of introduction to Americans abroad from prominent individuals he had met in [[Philadelphia]]. He already corresponded with artist [[Benjamin West]]; their fathers had been close friends. West took Fulton into his home, where Fulton lived for several years and studied painting. Fulton gained many commissions painting portraits and landscapes, which allowed him to support himself. He continued to experiment with mechanical inventions.<ref name=buckman/>

Fulton became caught up in the enthusiasm of the "Canal Mania". In 1793, he began developing his ideas for [[canal inclined plane|canals with inclined planes]] instead of locks. He obtained a patent for this idea in 1794, and also began working on ideas for the steam power of boats. He published a pamphlet about canals and patented a [[Dredging|dredging machine]] and several other inventions. In 1794, he moved to [[Manchester]] to gain practical knowledge of English canal engineering. While there he became friendly with [[Robert Owen]], a cotton manufacturer and early [[socialist]]. Owen agreed to finance the development and promotion of Fulton's designs for inclined planes and earth-digging machines; he was instrumental in introducing the American to a canal company, which awarded him a sub-contract. But Fulton was not successful at this practical effort and he gave up the contract after a short time.<ref>Boyes, Graham. ''The Peak Forest Canal''. {{ISBN|978-0901461599}}.</ref>

As early as 1793, Fulton proposed plans for steam-powered vessels to both the United States and British governments. The first [[steamship]]s had appeared considerably earlier. The earliest steam-powered ship, in which the engine moved oars, was built by [[Claude de Jouffroy]] in France. Called ''Palmipède'', it was tested on the [[Doubs (river)|Doubs]] in 1776. In 1783, de Jouffroy built {{ship||Pyroscaphe}}, the first paddle steamer, which sailed successfully on the [[Saône]]. The first successful trial run of a steamboat in America had been made by inventor [[John Fitch (inventor)|John Fitch]], on the [[Delaware River]] on August 22, 1787. [[William Symington]] had successfully tried steamboats in 1788, and it seems probable that Fulton was aware of these developments.

In Britain, Fulton met the [[Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater|Duke of Bridgewater, Francis Egerton]], whose canal, the first to be constructed in the country, was being used for trials of a steam tug. Fulton became very enthusiastic about the canals, and wrote a 1796 treatise on canal construction, suggesting improvements to locks and other features. Working for the Duke of Bridgewater between 1796 and 1799, Fulton had a boat constructed in the Duke's timber yard, under the supervision of Benjamin Powell. After installation of the machinery supplied by the engineers Bateman and Sherratt of Salford, the boat was duly christened ''Bonaparte'' in honour of Fulton having served under [[Napoleon]]. After expensive trials, because of the configuration of the design, the team feared the paddles might damage the clay lining of the canal and eventually abandoned the experiment. In 1801, Bridgewater instead ordered eight vessels for his canal based on {{ship||Charlotte Dundas}}, constructed by Symington.

In 1797, Fulton went to [[Paris]], where he was well known as an inventor. He studied [[French language|French]] and [[German language|German]], along with mathematics and chemistry. Fulton also exhibited the first [[panorama]] painting to be shown in Paris, [[Pierre Prévost (painter)|Pierre Prévost]]'s ''Vue de Paris depuis les Tuileries'' (1800), on what is still called ''Rue des Panoramas'' (Panorama Street) today.<ref name=sutcliffe63>[[#sutcliffe|Sutcliffe, 1909]], p. 63.</ref> While living in France, Fulton designed the first working muscle-powered submarine, {{ship||Nautilus|1800 submarine|2}}, between 1793 and 1797. He also experimented with torpedoes. When tested, his submarine operated underwater for 17 minutes in 25 feet of water. He asked the government to subsidize its construction, but he was turned down twice. Eventually, he approached the [[Minister of Marine (France)|Minister of Marine]] and, in 1800, was granted permission to build.<ref name="Burgess1">{{cite book|author=Burgess, Robert Forrest|title=Ships Beneath the Sea|url=https://archive.org/details/shipsbeneathseaa00burg|year=1975|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-008958-7|url-access=registration|author-link=Robert Forrest Burgess}}</ref> The shipyard Perrier in [[Rouen]] built it, and the submarine sailed first in July 1800 on the [[Seine River]] in the same city.

In France, Fulton met [[Robert R. Livingston]], who was appointed [[U.S. Ambassador to France]] in 1801. He also had a scientifically curious mind, and the two men decided to collaborate on building a steamboat and to try operating it on the Seine. Fulton experimented with the water resistance of various hull shapes, made drawings and models, and had a steamboat constructed. At the first trial the boat ran perfectly, but the hull was later rebuilt and strengthened. On August 9, 1803, when this boat was driven up the River Seine, it sank. The boat was {{convert|66|ft|m|0}} long, with an {{convert|8|ft|m|1|adj=on}} beam, and made between {{convert|2+1/2|and|3+1/2|kn|km/h|0}} against the current.

In 1804, Fulton [[allegiance|switched allegiance]] and moved to Britain, where he was commissioned by Prime Minister [[William Pitt the Younger]] to build a range of weapons for use by the [[Royal Navy]] during [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon's]] invasion scares. Among his inventions were the world's first modern naval "torpedoes" (modern "mines"). These were tested, along with several other of his inventions, during the 1804 [[Raid on Boulogne]], but met with limited success. Although Fulton continued to develop his inventions with the British until 1806, the crushing naval victory by Admiral [[Horatio Nelson]] at the 1805 [[Battle of Trafalgar]] greatly reduced the [[Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom|risk of French invasion]]. Fulton was increasingly sidelined as a result.<ref name="Best"/>

===Career in the United States (1806–1815)===
In 1806, Fulton returned to the United States. In 1807, he and Robert R. Livingston built the first commercially successful steamboat, {{ship||North River Steamboat}} (later known as ''Clermont''). Livingston's shipping company began using it to carry passengers between [[New York City]] and up the Hudson River to the state capital [[Albany, New York|Albany]]. ''Clermont'' made the {{convert|150|nmi|km|adj=on}} trip in 32 hours. Passengers on the maiden voyage included a lawyer Jones and his family from [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]]. His infant daughter Alexandra Jones later served as a [[Union (Civil War)|Union]] nurse on a steamboat hospital in the [[American Civil War]].<ref>Alice Crary Sutcliffe, ''Robert Fulton and the 'Claremont' ''</ref>

The Clermont was the first successful steamboat in America.  While it was being built people called it "Fulton's Folly". The Clermont had sails as well as a steam engine. At each end of the boat was a short mast with a small square sail that could be unfurled when needed. The engine was in the center of the boat and was surrounded by cord wood. The engine was 24-horsepower. Above the engine was a tall and slender smoke stack. On each side was a big paddle wheel that was open and uncovered. The diameter of the paddle wheels was {{convert|15|ft}}. The boat itself was {{convert|136|ft}} long and {{convert|18|ft}} wide. Its displacement was 160 tons.<ref>Baldwin, James, ''Sailing the Seas'', American Book Company, New York, Copyright 1920, pp. 73–74,</ref> Fulton received two patents for his steamboat, one in 1809 and the other in 1811.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Fulton and the Claremont |url=http://www.patentlyinteresting.com/robert-fulton-and-the-steamboat.html |website=Patently Interesting |access-date=26 August 2023}}</ref>

From 1811 until his death, Fulton was a member of the [[Erie Canal Commission]], appointed by the [[Governor of New York]].

Fulton's final design was the [[floating battery]] {{ship|United States floating battery|Demologos||2}}. This, the first steam-driven warship in the world, was built for the [[United States Navy]] for the [[War of 1812]]. The heavy vessel was not completed until after Fulton's death and was named in his honor.

From October 1811 to January 1812, Fulton, along with Livingston and [[Nicholas Roosevelt (inventor)|Nicholas Roosevelt]] (1767–1854), worked together on a joint project to build a new steamboat, {{ship||New Orleans|steamboat|2}}, sturdy enough to take down the [[Ohio River|Ohio]] and [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] rivers to [[New Orleans]], Louisiana. It traveled from industrial [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], where it was built, with stops at [[Wheeling, West Virginia]]; [[Cincinnati, Ohio]]; past the "[[Falls of the Ohio]]" at [[Louisville, Kentucky]]; to near [[Cairo, Illinois]], and the confluence with the Mississippi River; and down past [[Memphis, Tennessee]], and [[Natchez, Mississippi]], to New Orleans some {{convert|90|mi}} by river from the [[Gulf of Mexico]] coast. This was less than a decade after the United States had acquired the [[Louisiana Territory]] from [[France]]. These rivers were not well settled, mapped, or protected. By achieving this first breakthrough voyage and also proving the ability of the steamboat to travel upstream against powerful river currents, Fulton changed the entire trade and transportation outlook for the American heartland.

Fulton was elected a member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]] in 1814.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistf|title=MemberListF|work=American Antiquarian Society|access-date=2015-04-14|archive-date=2015-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418213155/http://americanantiquarian.org/memberlistf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Mrs. Robert Fulton (Harriet Livingston, 1785-1826) by Robert Fulton, c. 1810-1815, watercolor on ivory, from the New-York Historical Society - 1924 7.jpg|thumb|Fulton's portrait of Harriet Livingston]]
Prior to his marriage in 1808, Robert Fulton had a variety of [[homosexual]] and [[polyamorous]] relationships.<ref name="c-span.org">https://www.c-span.org/video/?166459-1/the-fire-genius# {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref> Famous among them was a [[ménage à trois]] with noted philanthropist couple Ruth and [[Joel Barlow]] while living in Paris with them for six years.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://notorc.blogspot.com/2012/03/short-tragic-life-of-robert-fulton-2.html | title=Postscripts: The Short, Tragic Life of Robert Fulton, 2: Gone Too Soon }}</ref> Letters between them reveal a sexual relationship among all three, including notes from American Revolutionary and patriot [[Joel Barlow]] requesting in [[baby-talk]] language for him "to have a wonderful summer of sexual pleasure with his wife" while he was away, and, importantly, that "he must not let...his beautiful body be deranged, and if he does anything wrong, he'll come and cut off his penis."<ref name="c-span.org"/> After he left Paris, he lived for two years at the castle of [[William Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon]], a known homosexual, although there is no confirmed [[Letter (message)|epistolary]] evidence of an explicit sexual relationship between them<ref name="c-span.org"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Griffin |first=Gabriele |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ybtkoNXz7XUC |title=Who's Who in Lesbian and Gay Writing |date=2004-06-16 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-40221-4 |language=en}}</ref>

On January 8, 1808, Fulton married [[Harriet Livingston Fulton|Harriet Livingston]] (1783–1826), the daughter of [[Walter Livingston]] and niece of [[Robert R. Livingston]], prominent men in the [[Hudson River]] area, whose family dated to the [[Colonial history of the United States|colonial era]].<ref name=Reynolds1911>{{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=Cuyler |title=Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: A Record of Achievements of the People of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys in New York State, Included Within the Present Counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Washington, Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, Schenectady, Columbia and Greene |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_b4k-AAAAYAAJ |year=1911 |publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_b4k-AAAAYAAJ/page/n370 302]–303}}</ref><ref name=Lancaster1909>{{cite book |title=Historical Papers and Addresses of the Lancaster County Historical Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PP47AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA227 |year=1909 |pages=227–228}}</ref>  During his marriage, he proposed a foursome with himself, his wife, and Ruth and [[Joel Barlow]] in Washington, DC, but Harriet rejected the offer.<ref name="c-span.org"/> Harriet, who was nineteen years his junior, was well educated and was an accomplished amateur painter and musician.<ref name="Philip2003"/>  Together, they had four children:<ref name="LCHS1909">{{cite book |title=Historical Papers and Addresses of the Lancaster County Historical Society: January 8, 1909. Vol. XIII No. 1 |date=1909 |publisher=Lancaster County Historical Society |page=227 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PP47AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA227 |access-date=8 November 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

* Robert Barlow Fulton (1808–1841), who died unmarried.<ref name="LCHS1909"/>
* Julia Fulton (1810–1848), who married lawyer Charles Blight of [[Philadelphia]].<ref name="LCHS1909"/>
* Cornelia Livingston Fulton (1812–1893), who married lawyer Edward Charles Crary (1806–1848) in 1831.<ref name=Lancaster1909/>
* Mary Livingston Fulton (1813–1861), who married Robert Morris Ludlow (1812–1894), parents of [[R. Fulton Ludlow|Robert Fulton Ludlow]].<ref name=Reynolds1911/>

Fulton died in 1815 in New York City from [[tuberculosis]] (then known as "consumption"). He had been walking home on the frozen Hudson River when one of his friends, [[Thomas Addis Emmet]], fell through the ice. In rescuing his friend, Fulton got soaked with icy water. He is believed to have contracted [[pneumonia]]. When he got home, his sickness worsened. He was diagnosed with consumption and died at 49 years old. After his death, his widow remarried to Charles Augustus Dale on November 26, 1816.

He is buried in the [[Trinity Church Cemetery]] for [[Trinity Church (Manhattan)|Trinity Church (Episcopal)]] at [[Wall Street]] in New York City, near other notable Americans such as former [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|U.S. Secretaries of the Treasury]], [[Alexander Hamilton]] and [[Albert Gallatin]]. His descendants include [[Cory Lidle]], a former [[Major League Baseball]] pitcher.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2621860|title=Lidle dies after plane crashes into NYC high-rise|work=ESPN.com|date=11 October 2006}}</ref>

==Legacy==
===Posthumous honors===
The Commonwealth of [[Pennsylvania]] donated a [[Robert Fulton (Roberts)|marble statue of Fulton]] to the [[National Statuary Hall Collection]] in the [[United States Capitol]]. Fulton was also honored for his development of [[steamship]] technology in New York City's [[Hudson-Fulton Celebration]] of the Centennial in 1909. A replica of his first steam-powered steam vessel, ''Clermont'', was built for the occasion.

Five ships of the [[United States Navy]] have borne the name {{USS|Fulton}} in honor of Robert Fulton.

Fulton Hall at the [[United States Merchant Marine Academy]] houses the Department of Marine Engineering and included laboratories for diesel and steam engineering, refrigeration, marine engineering, thermodynamics, materials testing, machine shop, mechanical engineering, welding, electrical machinery, control systems, electric circuits, engine room simulators and graphics.

[[File:US-$2-SC-1896-Fr.247.jpg|thumb|Robert Fulton (with Samuel F. B. Morse) depicted on the reverse of the 1896 $2 Silver Certificate from the [[United States Treasury]]]]

Bronze statues of Fulton and [[Christopher Columbus]] represent commerce on the balustrade of the galleries of the Main Reading Room in the [[Thomas Jefferson Building]] of the [[Library of Congress]] on [[Capitol Hill]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] They are two of 16 historical figures, each pair representing one of the 8 pillars of civilization.

The Guatemalan government in 1910 erected a bust of Fulton in one of the parks of [[Guatemala City]].<ref name="Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1910">{{cite news |title=Fleet of Fifty Warships Built in the Brooklyn Navy Yard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/55387548/ |access-date=16 August 2018 |publisher=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York) |date=12 May 1910 |page=22 }}</ref>

In 2006, Fulton was inducted into the "[[National Inventors Hall of Fame]]" in [[Alexandria, Virginia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/268.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408010135/http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/268.html|url-status=dead|title=National Inventors Hall of Fame|archive-date=April 8, 2013}}</ref>

===Places named for Fulton===
Many places in the U.S. are named for Robert Fulton, including:

====Counties====
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Fulton County, Georgia]]
* [[Fulton County, Illinois]]
* [[Fulton County, Indiana]]
* [[Fulton County, Kentucky]]
* [[Fulton County, New York]]
* [[Fulton County, Ohio]]
* [[Fulton County, Pennsylvania]]
{{div col end}}

====Cities and towns====
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Fulton, New York (disambiguation)]]
* [[Fulton, Arkansas]]
* [[Fulton, Mississippi]]
* [[Fulton, Illinois]]
* [[Fulton, Missouri]]<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ | title=How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named | publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri | author=Eaton, David Wolfe | year=1916 | page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ/page/n35 267]}}</ref>
* [[Fulton, Oswego County, New York]]
* [[Fulton, Obion County, Kentucky]]
* [[Fulton, Schoharie County, New York]]
* [[Fulton Township, Pennsylvania|Fulton Township]], [[Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Lancaster County]], [[Pennsylvania]]
* [[Fultonham, Ohio]]
* [[Fultonville, New York]]
{{div col end}}

====Other places====
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* Fulton Avenue, and the Fulton District in [[Sacramento, California]]
* Fulton Street in [[Berkeley, California]]
* [[Fulton Chain Lakes]], New York
* Robert Fulton Elementary School, [[Chicago]]
* Robert Fulton Elementary, [[Cleveland, Ohio]] (closed)
* Fulton Elementary School, [[Dubuque, Iowa]]
* Robert Fulton Elementary School [[North Bergen, New Jersey]]
* Fulton Elementary School, [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]], [[Pennsylvania]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lancaster.k12.pa.us/elementary/fulton/|title=The School District of Lancaster|access-date=2008-06-10|archive-date=2009-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201182355/http://www.lancaster.k12.pa.us/elementary/fulton/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Fulton Hall, State Quad, [[University at Albany]], ([[State University of New York at Albany]])
* Fulton Neighborhood in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]]
* [[Fulton Opera House]], Lancaster, Pennsylvania
* [[Fulton Park (Brooklyn)|Fulton Park]], [[New York City]]
* Fulton Steamboat Inn, hotel in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
* [[Fulton Street (Brooklyn)|Fulton Street]] in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City|New York]]
** [[BMT Fulton Street Line]] subway line
** [[IND Fulton Street Line]] subway line
** [[Fulton Street (IND Crosstown Line)]]
* [[Fulton Street (Manhattan)|Fulton Street]] in [[Manhattan]]
** [[Fulton Center]] in Manhattan
** [[Fulton Fish Market]]
** [[Fulton Street (New York City Subway)]] subway station
** [[Fulton Houses]] in [[Manhattan]] 
* Fulton Street in [[Alcoa, Tennessee]]
* Fulton Street in [[Anaheim, California]]
* Fulton Street in [[Grand Rapids, Michigan]]
* Fulton Street in [[Hempstead, New York]]
* Fulton Street in [[Massapequa Park]], New York
* Fulton Street in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]
* Fulton Street in [[San Francisco]], [[California]]
*Fulton Streer in [[Trenton, New Jersey]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.trentonhistory.org/streets.html | title=Trenton Historical Society, New Jersey }}</ref>
* Fulton Street in [[York]], [[Pennsylvania]]
* Fulton Street and [[Fulton Market District|Fulton Market]] in [[Chicago]]
* Fulton Street (Fultonstraße) in [[Vienna]]<ref>https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Fultonstraße</ref>
* Robert Fulton Drive in [[Columbia, Maryland|Columbia]], [[Howard County, Maryland|Howard County]], [[Maryland]]
* Robert Fulton Drive in [[Reston, Virginia]]
* Robert Fulton Fire Company, [[Fulton Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Fulton Township]], Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
* Robert Fulton Highway, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
* [[Robert Fulton School]], [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania
{{div col end}}
* Fulton, a neighborhood in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]]

===In popular culture===
[[20th Century-Fox]]'s 1940 film, ''[[Little Old New York (1940 film)|Little Old New York]]'', based on a 1920 play by [[Rida Johnson Young]], is a fictionalized version of Fulton's life from his arrival in New York to the first sailing of ''Clermont''. British actor [[Richard Greene]] starred as Fulton with Brenda Joyce as Harriet Livingston. [[Alice Faye]] and [[Fred MacMurray]] played wharf friends who help Fulton overcome problems to realize his dream.

A fictionalized account of Fulton's role was produced by [[BBC]] television during the 1960s. In the first serial, ''Triton'' (1961,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/2a0da136dd914fc181a70f256b441695|title=Triton: Part 2|website=BBC Genome|date=13 April 1962 |access-date=8 December 2018}}</ref> [[Triton (1968 TV series)|re-made in 1968]]), two British naval officers, Captain Belwether and Lieutenant Lamb, are involved in spying on Fulton while he is working for the French. In the sequel, ''[[Pegasus (TV series)|Pegasus]]'' (1969), they are surprised to find themselves working with Fulton after he changed sides. In the 1961 series, Fulton was played by [[Reed De Rouen]], in the 1968 and 1969 series he was played by [[Robert Cawdron]].

A Robert Fulton cartoon character appears in the 1955 [[Casper the Friendly Ghost]] short film ''Red, White, and Boo''.

Author [[James McGee (author)|James McGee]] used Fulton's experiments in early submarine warfare (against wooden warships) as a major plot element in his 2006 novel ''Ratcatcher''.

''Invasion'' (2009), the tenth novel in the "Kydd" naval warfare series by [[Julian Stockwin]], uses Fulton and his submarine as an important plot element.<ref>{{Cite book|isbn = 9780340961155|title = Invasion|last1 = Stockwin|first1 = Julian|year = 2009| publisher=Hodder & Stoughton }}</ref>

Until 2016, [[Disney Springs]] at [[Walt Disney World]] had a restaurant named Fulton's Crab House with a building in the shape of a steamboat.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-fultons-crabhouse-paddlefish-20160425-story.html|title=Fulton's Crab House at Disney Springs changing to Paddlefish|last=Arnold|first=Kyle|work=OrlandoSentinel.com|access-date=2018-01-31|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-et-paddlefish-disney-springs-20170203-story.html|title=First Look: Paddlefish in Disney Springs|last=Delgado|first=Lauren|work=OrlandoSentinel.com|access-date=2018-01-31|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Robert Fulton presents the first steamship to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803.jpg|Fulton presents his steamship to Bonaparte in 1803
Image:Fultondesign7.jpg|Submarine design in cross section by Robert Fulton, 1806
Image:Robert Fulton's Tombstone.jpg|Robert Fulton's tombstone at [[Trinity Church (Manhattan)|Trinity Church (Episcopal)]] in [[New York City]]
File:Robert Fulton sculpture IMG 3769.JPG|Fulton sculpture by [[Caspar Buberl]] at the [[Brooklyn Museum]], 1872
Image:Fultonnshc.jpg|[[Robert Fulton (Roberts)|Marble statue]] by [[Howard Roberts (sculptor)|Howard Roberts]] in [[Statuary Hall]] of the [[United States Capitol]], 1878–1883
file:Fulton on Hudson 1909 Issue-2c.jpg|[[Hudson-Fulton Celebration]] commemorative stamp, 1909 issue
Image:Robert Fulton Issue 1965-5c.jpg|200th Anniversary commemorative stamp, 1965 issue, based on the Houdon bust
</gallery>

==Publications==
* [https://archive.org/details/torpedowarsub00fultrich Torpedo war, and submarine explosions] published 1810.
* [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/TC744xF97/ ''A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041231182010/http://fax.libs.uga.edu/TC744xF97/ |date=2004-12-31 }}, 1796. From the University of Georgia Libraries in [[DjVu]] & [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/TC744xF97/1f/canal_navigation.pdf layered PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824074118/http://fax.libs.uga.edu/TC744xF97/1f/canal_navigation.pdf |date=2006-08-24 }} formats.
* [http://www.rarebookroom.org/Control/fulcan/index.html ''A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation''] 1796. From [[Rare Book Room]].

==See also==
* [[Experiment (horse powered boat)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100826072827/http://www.hrmm.org/diglib/oldsteam/chapter1.html Old Steamboat Days on The Hudson River] (1909)
* {{cite book |last=Sutcliffe |first=Alice Crary |title=Robert Fulton and the "Clermont" |publisher=New York : The Century Co. |year=1909 |url=https://archive.org/details/robertfultoncler00sutc/page/n8 |ref=sutcliffe}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{EB1911 poster|Fulton, Robert |volume=11 |page=300 |short=x}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Fulton, Robert}}
* [http://www.fieldtrip.com/pa/75482679.htm Robert Fulton Birthplace]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110929113815/http://www.yorkblog.com/cannonball/2010/11/fultons-folly-changed-transpor.html Photos of Fulton's Birthplace]
* {{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002005747/http://warof1812.casebook.org/articles/dissertation.html?id=ae79ee88073d87c50f2f1f5538e0a65e |url=http://warof1812.casebook.org/articles/dissertation.html?id=ae79ee88073d87c50f2f1f5538e0a65e |url-status=dead |title=Robert Fulton and the Secret War of 1812 |website=Casebook: The War of 1812 |author-last=Phair |author-first=Montgomery |archive-date=October 2, 2006}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15161/15161-h/15161-h.htm#CHAPTER_XIII Chapter XIII: Robert Fulton] in ''Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made'' (1871), by James D. McCabe Jr., Illustrated by [[George Frederick Bensell|G. F.]] and [[Edmund Birckhead Bensell|E. B. Bensell]], a [[Project Gutenberg]] eBook.
* {{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020216062323/http://www.gsk58.dial.pipex.com/symington/index.shtml |url-status=dead |url=http://www.gsk58.dial.pipex.com/symington/index.shtml |archive-date=February 16, 2002 |title=William Symington |date=1980 |author1-last=Harvey|author1-first=W.S.|author2-last=Downs-Rose|author2-first=G.}}
* {{cite book|url=http://www.hrmm.org/diglib/oldsteam/chapter1.html |title=Old Steamboat Days on The Hudson River |first=David Lear |last=Buckman |publisher=The Grafton Press |year=1907 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826072827/http://www.hrmm.org/diglib/oldsteam/chapter1.html |archive-date=August 26, 2010}}
* [http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artist.php?artistid=3833 Examples of art by Robert Fulton] at the [[Art Renewal Center]]
* {{cite book |last=Thurston |first=Robert H. |title=A history of the growth of the steam-engine |chapter-url=http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/thurston/1878/Chapter5.html |chapter=Chapter V: The Modern Steam Engine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221133221/http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/thurston/1878/Chapter5.html |archive-date=2012-02-21 }} Archived from the original.
* {{Citation|last=Iles|first=George|year=1912|title=Leading American Inventors|place=New York|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|url=https://archive.org/details/leadingamericani00ilesrich|pages=40–75}}
* [https://www.c-span.org/video/?166459-1/fire-genius ''Booknotes'' interview with Kirkpatrick Sale on ''The Fire of His Genius: Robert Fulton and the American Dream'', November 25, 2001.]
*[http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/eng_tech/id/3891 Collection of Robert Fulton manuscripts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101120913/http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/eng_tech/id/3891 |date=2016-01-01 }} – digital facsimile from the [[Linda Hall Library]]

{{Erie Canal Commissioner}}
{{Hall of Fame for Great Americans}}
{{Authority control}}

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