Last night we told you about America's River Roots Festival, which is taking place in Northern Kentucky this week.

Well, tonight we'll give you some history on a centuries old travel method the steamboat.

Our Emily Sisk takes us to the river to learn more about the vessel before steamboats.

You either rode a horse or walked before the railroad and certainly before airplanes.

Steamboats were how people and goods moved across the world.

That was especially true along the Ohio River in cities like Newport, where steamboats allowed for commerce and settlement.

Steam engines became important to the communities.

And then you got commerce and then the staples of our community.

Bourbon and beer started to travel up and down river all the way to New Orleans.

But as times have changed, how important is the steamboat today?

Captain Allen Bernstein, who owns speedy riverboats in Newport, said gas and diesel engines have taken over the riverboat industry.

But preserving steamboats is a way to honor America's history.

The steamboat is not the important part today.

It's a history part of today, and people need to know that that's the way they traveled, 150 years ago.

That's one of the hallmarks of the America's River Roots Festival, which is currently ongoing in Newport and Cincinnati in celebration of the United States 250th birthday.

One of the highlights of the festival will pay tribute to the history of the steamboat.

The only two steamboats on the river left in commercial operation, the Natchez from New Orleans and the Belle of Louisville.

They will race on Sunday.

Captain Bernstein said steamboat racing was a major event in the late 1800s.

The festival organizers hope to reenact the old time sport for a new generation to see.

It is the slowest two minutes in sports, but it is so much fun to see.

This is the only city in America that this takes place.

As for the riverboats, the Northern Kentucky Company, which has been in operation for more than 40 years, they're keeping the riverboat tradition alive with daily cruises along the Ohio River.

Bernstein said the company has become a mainstay of Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati tourism, and he said nothing beats the view from the Ohio when it comes to river travel and what to see on the river.

Downtown Cincinnati and now Newport is all growing up around the rim.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Emily Sisk.

Thank you.

Emily.

As part of the River Roots Festival, attendees can book a cruise on a historic boat.

And just so you know, the Belle of Louisville is the oldest operating steamboat of its kind.

It was built in 1914.