@ Steamboats.org Blogs - Entries from January 2005

Saturday, January 1. 2005

Steamboat Pictures of the Week: January/February 2005

Thanks to Dale Flick for the picture!
THis picture is taken possibly in spring of 1965. We see the old Cincinnati Public Landing just as the wreckers were beginning work to tear down the old structures due west of the landing and to the north. John Beatty's CAPTAIN HOOK with facilities for pleasure boats. Possibly the MARK TWAIN excursion boat at the foot of Broadway and the big GREENE LINE wharfboat. The wharfboat had been painted in the fall of 1963. The foot of Broadway shows a huge pile of rip/rap, sand etc., for fill and eventual clearing/construction of the then new stadium. Cars still parking on the landing as the cobbles hadn't been torn up. No parking meters appear on the east end of the landing due to an 'agreement' with the Strader family dating back to the days of 'Strader's Wharf.' They were kept in place on the west end.

Thanks to Dale Flick for the picture!
The ISLAND QUEEN. She's obviously loaded to the max and belching out a fair amount of smoke.

Thanks to Dale Flick for the picture!
A melancholy pic of the VIRGINIA. We see her sunk April 13, 1909, at Wellsville, Ohio. The towboat RIVAL from Pittsburgh arrived too late. Fred Way's PACKET DIRECTORY Entry No: 5593 has everything you'll ever want to know about this famed boat. Built at Cincinnati, 1895, 235 X 40 X 7 ft. Compound condensing engines 15's X 33's X 7 ft. stroke. Capt. J. Frank Ellison superintendent for the PITTSBURGH & CINCINNATI LINE. This sinking was followed by her celebrated stranding in a cornfield March 6, 1910. *See S&D REFLECTOR and John Hartford's great book, Steamboat in a Cornfield, Crown, 1986, for additional notes. VIRGINIA had a number of mishaps too long to detail here. As the STEEL CITY she knocked down her stacks and her pilothouse on an overhead cable in 1911. In 1916 she became the EAST ST. LOUIS. In 1923 the ISLAND BELLE for Coney Island Company and lastly the GREATER NEW ORLEANS until bought by STRECKFUS STEAMERS after 1927 when dismantled with boilers going to the WASHINGTON.

Thanks to Judy Patsch for the picture!
At first glance, you think you're looking at the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE. But this is the ISLAND MAID, which ran excursions up to Coney Island until she burned on the marine ways in Madison, Ind. Dec. 7, 1932. She had previously burned in 1929 and had much of her superstructure rebuilt then. She was built in 1909 by Howards as the G.W. HILL. She was 190x36x5.(The BELLE is 191') She was built for the St. Louis-Calhoun County trade, but was converted into an excursion boat in 1912. She was a regular on the Upper Mississippi and tramped as far as Pittsburgh and New Orleans. She was owned then by Sam Gregory and Capt. D.W. Wisherd. She was sold to Coney Island Co. in 1923 to replace the recently burned ISLAND QUEEN. Her most famous moment probably came as the HILL, when she and the SIDNEY were the first boats to enter the new lock at Keokuk, Iowa. This event was recorded on a very famous postcard, probably seen by most of you posters at one time or another.

Thanks to Judy Patsch for the picture!
This was taken on March 16, 1954 in Owensboro, Ky. The GCG's boilers are going over to the AVALON.

Thanks to Dale Flick for the picture!
The CITY OF LOUISVILLE on the ways at Howards in/around the spring of 1894. She experienced a 'side launch' into the river. The famed J.M. WHITE and the later MISSISSIPPI QUEEN had side launches at the HOWARD and later JEFFBOAT facility, Jeffersonville, Indiana. A few of you have seen this shot before. Fred Way's PACKET DIRECTORY gives information under entry No: 1095. The sidewheelers LOUISVILLE & CINCINNATI were some boats. All went well until the big ice in winter 1917/1918.

Gordon C. Greene passenger souvenir, with Tom Greene, Mary Greene, Jesse Hughes, and others' autographs. They either gave these or sold them to the pax. This is from April 1943.
Thanks to Judy patsch for the picture!

Thanks to Dale Flick for the picture!
This is the crew from the MARMET LANDING at old Coal Haven in Cincinnati, around 1900-1904. The heavy gentleman to the left is Jess Cramer, who was fleet master for MARMET. This photo is a 'close view' of a steam fleet pump boat for the wood barges. Must be either lunch or 'quitting time' as the men are resting with pipes in their mouths--cigarettes weren't common all that much then.

Thanks to Dale Flick for the picture!
The CITY OF LOUISVILLE after the big ice gorge of winter 1917/1918. Fred Way's PACKET DIRECTORY has all the details on the LOUISVILLE under Entry No: 1095. He writes: "The ice got her on Jan.30, 1918, after a valiant fight; she had steam up and her wheels were working ahead when she went down--drifted back and settled at the doorway of the L&C LINE wharfboat."