Steamboats; Greene Line; Greene, Chris B.; Greene, Gordon C.; Greene, Mary B.; Greene, Letha; "Delta Queen"; Riverboats; "Tom Greene"
The "Tom Greene" was built in 1923 and was owned by the Greene Line of Cincinnati. The "Tom Greene" was in the Cincinnati-Louisville trade until 1947. She was later made into a landing boat and offices. Gordon C. Greene named his boat after his...
The "Belle of the Bends" was built in 1898 and in 1909 she sank and was raised for the first time. A year later she again went under and was raised. She ran as an excursion boat in New Orleans in 1910 and 1911. Soon after she was overhauled and...
Steamboats; Riverboats; Excursion boats; "Belle of Louisville"; "Avalon"; Ferries; USO clubs; Rose Island
Built in 1914 this boat went by the name Idlewild from that date to 1947. She then became the Avalon from 1947 to 1962 when she was dubbed "Belle of Louisville". She is a shallow draft boat which enables her to glide over water that would not be...
The "Hattie Brown" was built in 1884 and made a regular run from Warsaw to Madison, Indiana and back daily. She was converted to an oil engine in 1915; two years later she was lost in the terrible freeze of 1917-1918 when the Ohio River froze for...
The showboat, "Water Queen" was once host to, and co-star with, Gloria Swanson during the filming of 'Stage Struck'. The "Water Queen" looks like anything but a movie star while resting along side the levee at Madison, Indiana. She sank at her...
The "Washington" is shown docked at Madison, Indiana, just above the Trow Flour Mill. On its sign you can see part of the word 'Perfection'. Perfection flour was shipped all over the country, and to other countries, by boat and rail. The mill...
Excursion steamer; Steamboats; Riverboats; "East St. Louis"; "Virginia"; "Steel City"; "Island Belle"; "Greater New Orleans"; "Washington"
The"East St. Louis", shown here on one of her excursions, was originally built as the "Virginia" in 1895 at Cincinnati and was later called the "Steel City". She was renamed the "East St. Louis" in December 1916. At that time her owner was the...
This is the towboat "Miami". Built in 1912 in Cincinnati, she was mostly a contract towboat. She ended her career on the Kanawha River and was dismantled in 1946.
Steamboats; Showboats; Riverboats; "Grace Devers"; Towboats; Tugboats; Levees; Otto Hitner
The "Cotton Blossom" began life in 1896 as a raft for a lumber company working out of St. Paul. She handled the large excursion barge named "Mississippi" at one time, was renamed "The Princess" and was then sold to the Barrett Line for use as a...
In 1851, John Brough, president of the first railway that ran through Madison and Governor of Ohio, built Cravenhurst. Three stories high, made of brick, the home was located on a ten acre farm on Michigan Road on the brow of the hill, in what is...
Steamboats; Riverboats; "Cape Girardeau"; Greene Line
This boat was built in Jeffersonville, Indiana and was originally called "Cape Girardeau". She was acquired by the Greene Line in 1935 and became their family boat with Captain Thomas R. Greene in command. His mother was usually on board with his...
She was built in 1883 and became an excursion boat in 1917. Here the "Saint Paul" is docked at Madison, Indiana. The rowboat in the foreground gives some idea of the size of this excursion boat. She was later named "Senator".
She was built in Dubuque in 1896 as the "Quincy" for the Diamond Jo Line for use in the St. Louis-St. Paul trade. She was sold to the Streckfus Line and was completely rebuilt to become the super excursion boat, the "J. S. Deluxe." She was the...
In 1851, John Brough, president of the first railway that ran through Madison and Governor of Ohio, built Cravenhurst. Three stories high, made of brick, the home was located on a ten acre farm on Michigan Road on the brow of the hill, in what is...
The "Senator" was built in 1903 as the "Saint Paul," but she was rebuilt in Paducah, Kentucky in the winter of 1939-1940 and was at that time given the name "Senator." She was owned by Streckfus Steamers, Inc., out of St. Louis and operated on the...
If the "Delta Queen" was the swan of the Ohio, then the "Kentucky" was the Little Mud Hen. According to Way's Packet Directory, "the cabin was shifted out of plumb and leaned in a uniform stagger creating an optical illusion seen nowhere else...
Railroad employees are posed with the "Reuben Wells." It was originally given the number 35, but was later changed to No. 365, and was specifically built for the JM and I Railroad for use on the incline at Madison, Indiana. It went into service...
Steamboats; Riverboats; "City of Madison"; Dikes (Engineering)
Built in Madison in 1882, the boat was the second "City of Madison," the first having been lost in a devastating explosion during the Civil War. On June 18, 1894, she was returning from a trip to Memphis, with a stop-over in Owensboro, Kentucky,...
Steamboats; Riverboats; W. S. McChesney, Jr.; Diesel; Ohio River
The "Froman M. Coots" began life as a steam ferry built for the Wiggins Ferry Company of St. Louis. At that time she was called the "W. S. McChesney, Jr." She served the Louisville and Jeffersonville areas. It was converted to diesel-electric...
The "Trimble" ferryboat was a familiar sight in Madison for many years. Built in 1895 for Captain Joseph C. Abbott, at the Jeffersonville boatworks, she worked the Milton-to-Madison run for almost thirty-five years.
