Perl Inville watches as the "W .C. Mitchell" passes by. In 1907 a new towboat was built and named "George Matheson No. 2". She was known familiarly along the Kanawha River as the "Bologna George". In 1920 she was renamed the "W. C. Mitchell" and...
This is the "W. C. Mitchell". The lettering on her boiler deck reads, "Ohio and Kanawha Transportation Company". The "W. C. Mitchell" burned below Concord, Kentucky on February 18, 1945.
Built in 1902 in Dubuque, Iowa, she was the largest towboat ever built. Her early beginnings, however, were rocky. On her maiden voyage she collided with a showboat and only a year later had to have her engines replaced. It was difficult for...
The "Monongahela" was built in 1927 and rebuilt in 1945-1946 when she was converted from coal to an oil burner. In the late 1950s she was partially dismantled. Her remains were sold to a South American firm. She broke away from her tug during...
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...
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...
The inscription on the picture says, "Sternwheel Towboat "Samuel Clark" built in Pittsburg in 1870, was used on the Ohio River until 1916 when the superstructure was removed and the hull sold to Maj. J.F. Butts, Carrollton, Ky., for use as a barge...
The "J.T. Hatfield" is seen here at Madison, just past the Madison-Milton bridge. She was built as the "General Ashburn" but her name was changed in honor of James T. Hatfield when the Hatfield-Campbell Creek Coal Company bought her in 1945. She...
The "G.W. McBride" was built in 1916 at Elizabeth, Pennsylvania as the "Conqueror". The "Conqueror" was upset in a storm and sank. She was raised, rebuilt, and named the "G.W. McBride" by Captain Birch McBride. She was sold to the Ohio River...
Here's another view of the "G.W. McBride", gliding along near Madison, Indiana. There is more information and another view under the title "G.W. McBride".
