Pictured is the paddle wheel on the rear of the American Heritage sternwheeler. The boat will be docking in Marietta on July 24. (Photo provided by American Cruise Lines)

MARIETTA — Marietta will be visited by a paddlewheeler next week.

American Cruise Lines’ paddlewheeler, American Heritage, will arrive in Marietta on July 24 and its passengers will disembark at 8 a.m., according to American Cruise Lines’ Public Relations Manager Alexa Paolella.

She said the American Heritage is currently on a Grand Ohio River Cruise traveling from St. Louis to Pittsburgh that started July 13 and will end in Pittsburgh on July 26.

According to Paolella the Grand Ohio River Cruise is a 16-day cruise and it can sail in either direction between Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

According to American Cruise Line’s website, once the passengers arrive in Marietta they will have their choice of complimentary tours, a trip to the Castle Historic House Museum; a Marietta Local Loop Excursion which involves a visit to the Campus Martius Museum and the Children’s Toy and Doll Museum; a guided walking tour of Marietta’s Earthworks; a Harmar Heritage walk that shows off Fort Harmar and the Henry Fearing House; and a guided exploration of Mound Cemetery.

The American Heritage paddlewheeler travels down the Mississippi River. The American Heritage will be stopping in Marietta for the day on July 24. (Photo provided by American Cruise Lines)

Paolella said the tours are offered continuously throughout the day so passengers can usually go on more than one.

She said the boat will leave Marietta at 11 p.m. Wednesday and its next stop will be Moundsville, W.Va.

According to Paolella, the boat can hold up to 150 people and the number of passengers on the boat right now is slightly less than that. She said the American Heritage offers almost every passenger a private balcony and for the rooms that don’t have one they have picture windows that open.

The website said the American Heritage first set sail in 2015, and according to Paolella all of the paddlewheelers had some renovations in the last couple of years.

She said they “were all redone with interior design in 2022.”

Pictured is a view of St. Louis from the deck of the American Heritage paddlewheeler. The boat will be coming to Marietta on July 24. (Photo provided by American Cruise Lines)

According to Paollella, the number of American Cruise Lines’ stops in Marietta will increase next year. She said American Cruise Lines boats will stop in Marietta eight times this year and 14 times in 2025.

She said this is due to the company switching Marietta from a half-day stop in 2023 to a full-day stop in 2024 and because they will be offering more of their 9-day long Ohio River cruises, on which Marietta is a stop, in 2025.