Steamboats 3

ADVERTISEMENTS  FROM  SOUVENIR  BOOK

                                 
Bedding            China-Railings-Steel Work                Kitchens      Postal Card  (Repro)                        Plumbing

                               
            Meats                                    Wire-Iron-Bronze Work                          Reed Furniture

               
Various

                               
    1912 Pass for a V.I.P.                                            L & C Packet Co. envelope

1894 Ad.

               
Loading Steamboat                         Snag Boat                            Steamboat at night
These boats cleared the
river of obstacles.

                           
Steamboat Bonanza                     Steamboat Lizzie Bay                                          Island Belle                  1925              
 ran from 1885 to 1916                                                                                                                                                                  

PITTSBURGH  &  CINCINNATI  PACKET  CO.

                *
Keystone State                         Virginia                                                       Queen City                                                                    

   The first 3 cards above show the last 3 boats that were in the fleet during the last years of their operation. The line went into receivership in 1909 but continued to operate until 1912 when the assets were sold to John W. Hubbard of Pittsburgh. A note of interest: none of the steamers on this line were built with, operated, or carried a bar.

               
  Virginia                                        Not a postcard
                                                        Virginia  in cornfield

   The Sternwheeler Virginia was one of the boats owned by the Pittsburgh & Cincinnati Packet Co. In 1910 it was caught in a flood at Willow Grove, West Virginia. The water set the boat down 750' from the river in a cornfield. Through the use of cribbing and rollers the movers, (John Eichleay Jr. Company from Pittsburgh, Pa.) was able to move the 235' long boat to the river's edge. The steepness of the bank presented problems. According to the local papers, "Eichleay prayed for rain" and the rains came, the river rose and the Virginia floated into the river. The first  postcard above show the Virginia after it had been re-floated. The sign on the side of the boat in the 1st card states the above facts. The boat was renamed the Steel City in 1912 and was then acquired by the Coney Island Co. in 1923 and renamed The Island Belle.  In 1927 it was again resold to the Greater New Orleans Amusement Co. Docked at Paducah it was rebuilt and renamed Greater New Orleans.
   The images below show the construction of the Virginia, various views of the interior, and more shots of the boat stranded in the cornfield.

       
Construction in 1895          Main Cabin 1895        Looking forward 1896      Ladies Cabin 1895         Ladies Cabin 1905      

           
Various scenes of Virginia in cornfield

   
Capt. J. F. Ellison Superintendent

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