Thanks for sharing those great images Mary! Fun "finds" in the family photos! Reminds me of the days in 1965 and 1966 when the old wooden hull of the MAJESTIC was declared too decrepit by the Coast Guard to continue traveling and she remained dockside here at Jeffersonville for two seasons before being purchased by Cincinnati. My grandparents loved to attend the shows performed by Indiana University students and I well recall seeing the smoke pouring from the stack of the boiler (on the stern of the showboat) that supplied steam for the calliope on the roof of the towboat. Lots of families came with lawn chairs, blankets and some with picnics, to relax on the river bank and listen to the half hour cally-ope concerts that preceded the melodramas. Sometimes the BELLE went by and there would be "dueling calliopes". Them wuz the days!
With the Ohio now on a rampage, I was thinking just this morning of when (now over four decades ago!) the MAJESTIC was moored here and of the times the river was at flood stage and full of debris and drift, creating a potentially perilous situation for the fragile riverboats. A crew from Jeffboat would usually move the showboat and towboat upriver a bit and place barges around them for safety.
Herewith a faded photo of the MAJESTIC and towboat IU (formerly ATTABOY) at the Jeffersonville waterfront during HIGH water. March, 1962.
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