In 1946, this towboat hit the inland waterways with a splash. She was outfitted with a newly designed engine and clutch, and could "move from full ahead to full astern in less than eight seconds." Once she proved herself, she became the prototype for the modern towboat.

For years the 300-ton Covington pushed barges of liquid cargo, usually petroleum, along a 1,000-mile stretch of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, setting the pace for America's post-war economic boom.

Fifty years later, the visionary partners of River Valley Preservation Company saw the Covington dry-docked in Louisiana and hauled her upstream to St. Paul. They gutted the tow's inner workings, then inch by inch transformed the boat's steely chambers into cozy rooms. In 1995, the boat re-emerged with a new purpose, The Covington Inn. 

The current owner, Liz Miller, worked as a waitress at the No Wake Café here on the boat from 1997-2000 when the No Wake closed. 
The previous owners, Tom and Ann, asked her to take over for them as Innkeeper in 2002. She loved the boat and the lifestyle so much that she bought it from them in 2004.  Liz dutifully cared for the Covington Inn until the end of 2022; after a decade of having it listed for sale she found the right passionate buyer and sold the Covington Inn to retire on a different water front to Calah DeLaurentis. Calah was captivated by the inn's serenity in the middle of the city and was charmed by the opportunity to keep something so charming and vexing alive and a part of the Twin Cities.

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