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Because they wereso expensive, his steamboats wereunsuccessfu l. The first successfu l steamboatwas the Clermont, which was built byAmerican inventor Robert Fulton in 1807.The Clermont was the combinedeffort of Fulton and Robert Livingston.Fulton was born in Lancaster County,Pennsylvania. By the age of 17, he wasworking as a painter in Philadelphia.
In 1802 Fulton contracted with Robert Livingstone to build a steamboat that would ply the Hudson River. Livingstone held the rights for steamboat navigation on the waterway. By August 1807, Fulton's boat was ready for a trial run from New York City to Albany and back. On the afternoon of Monday August 17, the vessel was moored on the East River off Greenwich Village. Aboard were Fulton, Livingston and numerous adventurous friends eager to make the historic voyage. The boat (called the Clermont by history although there is no evidence that Fulton used this name) was an odd looking craft 150 fifty feet long and 13 feet wide, drawing 2 feet of water.