MARION, Ill. — Towns along the Ohio River will be getting a water taxi this summer. And state officials hope Kentucky comes on board, making it a two-state partnership that triggers a tourism boom for the whole region.

        “We are excited about it because it will really attract people to come down to see us,” said Alene Carr, a spokeswoman for the southern Illinois transit authority that will run the water taxi.

        The boat and docking facilities are being built now, and the target date for the first trips is Aug. 1.

        “This is going to be a 48-passenger vessel,” said Ms. Carr, who works for Rides Mass Transit District, a seven-county authority based in Rosiclare.

        “We'll be operating four days a week, stopping at the little towns along the Ohio River, allowing passengers to get on and off, shop or go to a place of interest, then get back on and continue going up and down the river.”

        The water taxi, financed by state and federal money, will make stops in Cave-In-Rock, Elizabethtown, Rosiclare and Golconda. A weekly historical tour will expand to include Shawneetown and possibly Old Shawneetown.

        Points of interest along the way include the cave of Cave-In-Rock, where river pirates were headquartered; and the state's oldest hotel, the Rose Hotel, in Elizabethtown.

        “This was the stopping off place for people heading west” in the 1800s, Ms. Carr said. “We feel there's a lot of history in the area.”

        If Kentucky becomes a partner, two towns across the river — Tolu and Carrsville — would be added as stops for the river taxi, said Roger Morris, a member of the Carrsville, Ky., tourism committee.

        “I talked to a couple who lived down in Nashville, and they said they'd come all the way up here just to ride that boat,” Mr. Morris said. The region features Amish country near Tulo and an antique toy museum is planned for Carrsville, he said.

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