This is a picture of the Madison Marine Railways and Shipyard. Visible in the photo are several riverboats tied up for repairs. Identified are "City of Owensboro", "Tell City", "Harry Brown", and "Alice Brown".
Here the ferry boat "Trimble" lands at the Milton docks. You can see Madison in the background. The large building in the middle of the picture seen in the distance is the Eagle Cotton Mills.
This boat was built in 1910 by Howard as the "J. H. Menge" and later the "M. A. Burke," a cotton packet. It was sold to the Louisville and Cincinnati Packet Company in 1919 and then was sent to Mount City for extensive alterations before being...
She was built as the "Dolphin No. 3" at Jeffersonville, Indiana and was called the "Harry Anderson" for a brief period before receiving the name "Julius Fleischmann." She was owned by the Hatfield Coal Company and towed between the Kanawha River...
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...
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 ferry boat "Indiana" plies the river past Madison, Indiana. She, no doubt, is headed up-river where she worked the Carrollton, Kentucky to Lamb, Indiana trade.
Steamboats; Riverboats; Stern wheelers; Greene Line; Madison-Milton Bridge; Ohio River
Built in 1925, this was the second "Chris Greene" of the Greene Line. One can see the Madison-Milton Bridge in the background on the left hand side; it was built in 1928. The first "Chris Greene" was lost in the great fire at Cincinnati in...
The "Princess" and "Island Queen" are shown in the grip of ice during the winter of 1917-1918. The "Island Queen" surivived only to face the inferno at the Cincinnati docks on November 4, 1922. The "Princess" was lost when the ice gorge broke. ...
The "Fleetwood" left Cincinnati on her maiden voyage August 26, 1880. She was retired about 1894. Notice the railroad tracks in the foreground, another boat approaching the docks and the ladies with their parasols.
Steamboats; Riverboats; Marks and Benson; ice gorge; Steamboat accidents
The "Loucinda" was built in 1910 and was one of the casualties of the 1918 ice gorge that claimed several boats in Cincinnati. The inscription says, "Marks and Benson, American Boy excursion to Fern Grove, July 13, 1910.
Built in 1916 by the Howard works, she ran excursion in the Louisville area. This might be an excursion to Fern Grove. She was rebuilt in St. Louis and the name was changed to "Harry G. Drees".
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...