[Keith Norrington]

Herewith is a photo I came across of the St. Louis riverfront in 1973. In the foreground is the Str. ADMIRAL, followed by the BECKY THATCHER (former Str. MISSISSIPPI), GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT, HUCK FINN and, in the distance, the restaurant boat LT. ROBERT E. LEE, built on the hull of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers snagboat CHARLES H. WEST. This was the last season that the ADMIRAL ran as a steamboat before being dieselized. Note the small cloud of steam emanating from her starboard side near the waterline.

With the news last week that the ADMIRAL (now relegated to a casino) is to be towed away (likely to oblivion) soon, this will pretty much "close the book" on all the boats in this photograph. With the BECKY sunk and demolished at Pittsburgh, the GOLDENROD deteriorating along the Illinois River at Kampsville, the HUCK FINN now the SPIRIT OF JEFFERSON here at Louisville, and the LT. ROBERT E. LEE mothballed, there's no more lively activity at the now virtually empty levee! The Streckfus wharfboat was sold to a barge line and moved to a new site.

Thanks for the memories!