"Hill City"
Title
"Hill City "
Subject
Steamboats ; Riverboats ; Excursion boats ; Anchor Line ; "City of Monroe "; Barmore , David ; Steamboat accidents
Description
On March 28 , 1896 at St . Louis , a great , black cloud loomed menacingly over the city . The "City of Monroe " chanced to be moored at the Anchor Line wharf-boat , ready to start on her regular trip to New Orleans . She was heavily laden with freight and passengers . The happy and expectant crowd was waiting to start their journey when a swirling tempest swept down upon the boat . It was wrenched from its moorings and drifted helplessly at the storm's mercy . After a brief struggle , the boat drifted to the Illinois side of the river and she was there made secure . There was not loss of life but the "City of Monroe " had been dealt a terrible blow . Her upper works had been destroyed but her sturdy hull had held against the onslaught . In early March of 1897 Captain David Barmore of Madison , Indiana contracted with the New Orleans and St . Louis Anchor Line to lengthen their steamer "City of Monroe " and change her hull and cabin in many ways to make her the finest steamer on the western waters . The steamer "Gate City " was to tow her from St . Louis to Madison for that purpose . The "Gate City " arrived at Madison with the "City of Monroe " on April 4 and the next day her wheel-house was dismantled . Her new dimensions would make her second only to the "City of New Orleans ". The Madison Courier reported on April 24 , 1897 , "The City of Monroe's fine staterooms are the most capacious we have seen , being more commodious than many family bedrooms. " The work progressed and on June 16 the Madison Courier stated , "She is 320 feet long and across decks 80 feet 8 inches over all . She is too large to go through the canal , so will have to catch water on the falls when she goes. " On June 28 , 1897 the paper reported , " Captain Barmore's workmen are putting the finishing touches on the new steamer Hill City , formerly the Anchor Line steamer City of Monroe . It is estimated that it will take five tons of lead , coal oil , etc. to make the mixture and require the labor of twenty men. " On July 14 the local inspectors looked her over and officially pronounced the "Hill City " fit for duty . She arrived in New Orleans just befor midnight Saturday , August 7 , 1897 . She sank below Memphis in November 1900 but was raised . In 1903 she became an excursion boat under the name "Corwin H . Spencer ". She burned above Jefferson Barracks , Missouri in 1905 .
Creator
Unknown
Contributors
Madison-Jefferson County Public Library; Jefferson County Historical Society
Date
Photograph taken circa 1900
Type
Photograph
Format
Original: tif, scanned at 1200dpi with a MicroTek ScanMaker 9800XL. Online: jpg, saved at 72dpi.
Identifier
"MJCPLriver5096-hillcity"
Source
Madison Courier- March 9 through August 9, 1897
Rights
Permission to reproduce this image for other than personal use must be requested from the Director of the Madison-Jefferson County Public Library. Please contact at 420 W. Main St., Madison, IN 47250 (812) 265-2744.
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