Belle of Louisville
Encyclopedia
The Belle of Louisville is a steamboat
owned and operated by the city of Louisville, Kentucky
and moored at its downtown
wharf next to the Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere
during its annual operational period. Originally named the Idlewild, she was built by James Rees & Sons Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
for the West Memphis Packet Company in 1914 and was first put into service on the Allegheny River
. Constructed with an all-steel superstructure and asphalt main deck, the steamboat is said to hold the all-time record in her class for miles traveled, years in operation, and number of places visited. The Belle's offices are located within the Mayor Andrew Broaddus
, also a National Historic Landmark.
and West Memphis, Arkansas
. She also hauled cargo such as cotton, lumber and grain. She then came to Louisville in 1931 and ran trips between the Fontaine Ferry amusement park
near downtown Louisville and Rose Island
, a resort about 14 miles upriver from Louisville. In 1934, she operated a regular excursion schedule through World War II
. During the war, she was outfitted with special equipment to push oil barges along the river. She also served as a floating USO nightclub for troops stationed at military bases along the Mississippi River
.
After the war, in 1947, she was sold to J. Herod Gorsage, and the name was changed to Avalon. Over the next few years, the Avalon visited ports all along the Mississippi, Missouri
, St. Croix, Illinois
, Kanawha
, Ohio
and Cumberland
Rivers. Her many stops included Omaha, Nebraska
; Stillwater, Minnesota
; Montgomery, West Virginia
; and Nashville, Tennessee
.
By 1962, the Avalon fell into disrepair, and might have seen the end of its days, until Jefferson County
Judge
Marlow Cook
bought her at an auction for $34,000. She came to Louisville and was re-christened the Belle of Louisville.
Prior to the auction, the boat's hull had been condemned as unfit by the U. S. Coast Guard: concrete patches had added much weight to the oft-damaged hull, as had generations of accumulated modifications to the decks and fittings within her superstructure. These were stripped and repaired in dry dock or removed by volunteers.
What remained was cleaned, surface prepared, supplied with new finish carpentry, and painted in a style consistent with the boat's early 20th century beginnings.
Of these, Capt. Clarke "Doc" Hawley, who had worked aboard the boat during her Avalon days, had salvaged the brass nameplates from the ends of the two massive cylinders, in order to prevent them from being sold for scrap, and now returned them to the boat. Hawley had also, before the auction, at his own cost hired an assistant to drain the boat's water-filled fittings for winter, so that they would not freeze and burst. This meant that the mechanical restoration of the boat was now possible, at far less cost than had extensive refitting of ruined pipe work been necessary.
Various of her workings, though not her engine and drive train, had been stripped and sold in separate lots at auction, including the boat's original steam calliope
.
Volunteers donated materials which could be adapted to use, some of them, such as brass steam-powered bilge clearing pumps known as "siphons," cannibalized from steamboats sunken long-ago, whose hulls could still be seen and dived at low water. Some missing components were custom-fabricated by local foundries in a style copied from photographs of the boat in her earlier days. The degree of preservation was considerable, and the boat is still piloted with a 19th-century skill set, though now with the assistance of modern communications.
Although authentic to its core, the boat has occasionally seen improvements not part of the original restoration. The compressed-air driven calliope which replaced the missing original proved unsatisfying, and was ultimately replaced with the true steam calliope which the boat uses today, audible for many blocks in the surrounding Downtown Louisville area when the boat is readying to depart.
The ship's bow was also redesigned by Bates in the late 1960s, to make the boat a better contender in the Great Steamboat Race: the original, blunter bow at maximum speeds showed the tendency for waves to break over it.
steamboat. That race was the beginning of an unparalleled river tradition. To this day, the Belle and another competing steamboat, usually the Delta Queen, still square off every year on the Wednesday before the Kentucky Derby
in the Kentucky Derby Festival
event The Great Steamboat Race
.
Thousands of spectators line both sides of the river to watch the race: on the first occasion of the running of the race, attendance exceeded that of the Kentucky Derby the same year. Originally, Kentucky Derby officials were said to be reluctant to accept the steamboat race as part of the Derby celebrations, as in old betting parlance, a "boat race" refers to a horse race with an outcome influenced by dishonest means. According to popular Louisville folklore, the annual race may be rigged, but insiders insist that cheating is impossible, as the race has no rules. The only prizes are bragging rights, and a pair of gilded deer antlers which are mounted above the forecastle of the winning boat.
Today, the Belle is recognized as the oldest river steamboat in operation, being placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1972, and designated a National Historic Landmark
in 1989. A new calliope was placed aboard in 1988, built by Morecraft Manufacturing of Peru, Indiana
. The instrument is a reproduction of the Nichol instrument that the boat carried when named Avalon.
In August 1997, the boat was partially sunk at its moorings; a former crew member of the boat was later convicted of sabotage
. The proximate cause of the sinking was flooding of the hull via a city water line left connected to a fitting that led into the boat's hull. Thanks to the swift actions of the steamer's crew and other members of the community, the boat was rescued, repaired, and returned to service.
In February 2007, Mark Doty was named as captain of the Belle of Louisville replacing Kevin Mullen, who left the position in November 2006. Doty's official title is "Master of the Fleet
" or "Port Captain".
On October 17, 2009, the Belle collided with a dock near Six Mile Island
on the Ohio River. Witness statements report that the accident occurred as the Belle was making a turnaround about halfway through a cruise. Tugboats were used to pull the Belle to safety. A Belle official was quoted as saying that the wind had caused the Belle to hit the dock. It has been reported that one-third of the paddle wheel's bucket planks were damaged in the collision, and jockey bar (the main steel arm, which goes across the aft end of the paddle wheel) was bent. The accident is under investigation, and damage estimates are unknown. The crew, however, was able to fix the damage without the need of taking the Belle to drydock. The damaged bucket planks were replaced from stock held in storage.
) in Rudy Rucker
's 1988 novel Wetware
, which takes place on the Moon
and in Louisville, Kentucky
in the year 2031.
The smoke stacks of the Belle can be seen through Bill Murray
's apartment window in the movie Stripes
.
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
owned and operated by the city of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
and moored at its downtown
Downtown Louisville
Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, and 9th Street to the west...
wharf next to the Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere
Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere
Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere is a public area on the Ohio River in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Although proposed as early as 1930, the project did not get off the ground until $13.5 million in funding was secured in 1969 to revitalize the downtown area . On April 27, 1973 the Riverfront...
during its annual operational period. Originally named the Idlewild, she was built by James Rees & Sons Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
for the West Memphis Packet Company in 1914 and was first put into service on the Allegheny River
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
. Constructed with an all-steel superstructure and asphalt main deck, the steamboat is said to hold the all-time record in her class for miles traveled, years in operation, and number of places visited. The Belle's offices are located within the Mayor Andrew Broaddus
Mayor Andrew Broaddus
The Mayor Andrew Broaddus is a lifesaving station built by the United States Life-Saving Service located in Louisville, Kentucky, off the corner of River Road and Fourth Street. It is named in honor of Andrew Broaddus, a former mayor of Louisville...
, also a National Historic Landmark.
History
The Idlewild operated as a passenger ferry between Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and West Memphis, Arkansas
West Memphis, Arkansas
West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 27,666 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 28,181 in 2005, and 31,329 in 2011 ranking it as the state's 11th largest city, behind Hot Springs...
. She also hauled cargo such as cotton, lumber and grain. She then came to Louisville in 1931 and ran trips between the Fontaine Ferry amusement park
Fontaine Ferry Park
Fontaine Ferry Park was an amusement park in Louisville, Kentucky from 1905 to 1969. Located in Louisville's West End on , it offered over 50 rides and attractions, as well as a swimming pool, skating rink and theatre...
near downtown Louisville and Rose Island
Rose Island (amusement park)
Rose Island was a popular amusement park near Charlestown, Indiana, situated on a peninsula created by Fourteen Mile Creek emptying into the Ohio River. It was a recreational area known as Fern Grove in the 1880s, mostly used as a church camp. It was so named due to the many ferns that grew there...
, a resort about 14 miles upriver from Louisville. In 1934, she operated a regular excursion schedule through World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. During the war, she was outfitted with special equipment to push oil barges along the river. She also served as a floating USO nightclub for troops stationed at military bases along the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
.
After the war, in 1947, she was sold to J. Herod Gorsage, and the name was changed to Avalon. Over the next few years, the Avalon visited ports all along the Mississippi, Missouri
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
, St. Croix, Illinois
Illinois River
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the State of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route...
, Kanawha
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, it has formed a significant industrial region of the state since the middle of the 19th century.It is formed at the town of Gauley...
, Ohio
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
and Cumberland
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...
Rivers. Her many stops included Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
; Stillwater, Minnesota
Stillwater, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 15,143 people, 5,797 households, and 4,115 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,340.0 people per square mile . There were 5,926 housing units at an average density of 915.7 per square mile...
; Montgomery, West Virginia
Montgomery, West Virginia
Montgomery is a city in West Virginia, along the Kanawha River. Most of the city is in Fayette County, with the remainder in Kanawha County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,942 ....
; and Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
.
By 1962, the Avalon fell into disrepair, and might have seen the end of its days, until Jefferson County
Jefferson County, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 693,604 people, 287,012 households, and 183,113 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 305,835 housing units at an average density of...
Judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
Marlow Cook
Marlow Cook
Marlow Webster Cook is a former Republican United States Senator from Kentucky.-Early life:Cook moved to Louisville when he was 17. He joined the United States Navy and served on submarines in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during World War II...
bought her at an auction for $34,000. She came to Louisville and was re-christened the Belle of Louisville.
Restoration
The restoration of the boat was supervised by marine architect Alan L. Bates (now Captain Bates), whose book, "Str. Belle of Louisville," (1964) remains a primary source on the history of the boat and the crews who worked on her.Prior to the auction, the boat's hull had been condemned as unfit by the U. S. Coast Guard: concrete patches had added much weight to the oft-damaged hull, as had generations of accumulated modifications to the decks and fittings within her superstructure. These were stripped and repaired in dry dock or removed by volunteers.
What remained was cleaned, surface prepared, supplied with new finish carpentry, and painted in a style consistent with the boat's early 20th century beginnings.
Of these, Capt. Clarke "Doc" Hawley, who had worked aboard the boat during her Avalon days, had salvaged the brass nameplates from the ends of the two massive cylinders, in order to prevent them from being sold for scrap, and now returned them to the boat. Hawley had also, before the auction, at his own cost hired an assistant to drain the boat's water-filled fittings for winter, so that they would not freeze and burst. This meant that the mechanical restoration of the boat was now possible, at far less cost than had extensive refitting of ruined pipe work been necessary.
Various of her workings, though not her engine and drive train, had been stripped and sold in separate lots at auction, including the boat's original steam calliope
Calliope (music)
A calliope is a musical instrument that produces sound by sending a gas, originally steam or more recently compressed air, through large whistles, originally locomotive whistles....
.
Volunteers donated materials which could be adapted to use, some of them, such as brass steam-powered bilge clearing pumps known as "siphons," cannibalized from steamboats sunken long-ago, whose hulls could still be seen and dived at low water. Some missing components were custom-fabricated by local foundries in a style copied from photographs of the boat in her earlier days. The degree of preservation was considerable, and the boat is still piloted with a 19th-century skill set, though now with the assistance of modern communications.
Although authentic to its core, the boat has occasionally seen improvements not part of the original restoration. The compressed-air driven calliope which replaced the missing original proved unsatisfying, and was ultimately replaced with the true steam calliope which the boat uses today, audible for many blocks in the surrounding Downtown Louisville area when the boat is readying to depart.
The ship's bow was also redesigned by Bates in the late 1960s, to make the boat a better contender in the Great Steamboat Race: the original, blunter bow at maximum speeds showed the tendency for waves to break over it.
Career as the Belle of Louisville
On April 31, 1963, the Belle made her first cruise in a race against the Delta QueenDelta Queen
The Delta Queen is an American sternwheel steamboat that is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Historically, she has been used for cruising the major rivers that constitute the drainage of the Mississippi River, particularly in the American South. As of June 2009, she is docked in Chattanooga,...
steamboat. That race was the beginning of an unparalleled river tradition. To this day, the Belle and another competing steamboat, usually the Delta Queen, still square off every year on the Wednesday before the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
in the Kentucky Derby Festival
Kentucky Derby Festival
The Kentucky Derby Festival is an annual festival held in Louisville, Kentucky during the two weeks preceding the first Saturday in May, the day of the Kentucky Derby...
event The Great Steamboat Race
Great Steamboat Race
The Great Steamboat Race is an annual event, taking place the Wednesday before the first Saturday of May, three days before the Kentucky Derby as part of the Kentucky Derby Festival. The race was first run in 1963 and it takes place on the Ohio River in the span that runs between Louisville,...
.
Today, the Belle is recognized as the oldest river steamboat in operation, being placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1972, and designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1989. A new calliope was placed aboard in 1988, built by Morecraft Manufacturing of Peru, Indiana
Peru, Indiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 12,994 people, 5,410 households, and 3,397 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,815.5 people per square mile . There were 5,943 housing units at an average density of 1,287.7 per square mile...
. The instrument is a reproduction of the Nichol instrument that the boat carried when named Avalon.
In August 1997, the boat was partially sunk at its moorings; a former crew member of the boat was later convicted of sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
. The proximate cause of the sinking was flooding of the hull via a city water line left connected to a fitting that led into the boat's hull. Thanks to the swift actions of the steamer's crew and other members of the community, the boat was rescued, repaired, and returned to service.
In February 2007, Mark Doty was named as captain of the Belle of Louisville replacing Kevin Mullen, who left the position in November 2006. Doty's official title is "Master of the Fleet
Master of the Fleet
In the Royal Navy, the rank of Master of the Fleet denoted the sailing master of a fleet flagship, or the senior sailing master in a fleet. Examples include John Bowen , Ian Hogg, and John H. D. Cunningham.By 1814, the title granted the master extra pay...
" or "Port Captain".
On October 17, 2009, the Belle collided with a dock near Six Mile Island
Six Mile Island State Nature Preserve
Six Mile Island is a nature preserve in Jefferson County, Kentucky located on the Ohio River.-About:The Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission is the project manager over the preserve and was dedicated June 24, 1979. The reserve is an undeveloped riverine island and is known for its extensive...
on the Ohio River. Witness statements report that the accident occurred as the Belle was making a turnaround about halfway through a cruise. Tugboats were used to pull the Belle to safety. A Belle official was quoted as saying that the wind had caused the Belle to hit the dock. It has been reported that one-third of the paddle wheel's bucket planks were damaged in the collision, and jockey bar (the main steel arm, which goes across the aft end of the paddle wheel) was bent. The accident is under investigation, and damage estimates are unknown. The crew, however, was able to fix the damage without the need of taking the Belle to drydock. The damaged bucket planks were replaced from stock held in storage.
The Belle in Fiction
The Belle of Louisville appears as a character (powered by an artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
) in Rudy Rucker
Rudy Rucker
Rudolf von Bitter Rucker is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and philosopher, and is one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known for the novels in the Ware Tetralogy, the first two of...
's 1988 novel Wetware
Wetware (novel)
Wetware is a 1988 biopunk science fiction novel written by Rudy Rucker. It shared the Philip K. Dick Award in 1988 with Four Hundred Billion Stars by Paul J. McAuley...
, which takes place on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
and in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
in the year 2031.
The smoke stacks of the Belle can be seen through Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
's apartment window in the movie Stripes
Stripes (film)
Stripes is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, P. J. Soles, and John Candy. It also featured several actors in their first significant film roles, including John Larroquette, Sean Young, John Diehl, and Judge Reinhold. It was one...
.