''Gordon C. Greene'' was a
paddle steamer, launched in 1923, that operated under several names before sinking in
St. Louis in 1967.
Ship history
The ship was built by the Howard Ship Yards & Dock Company (now
Jeffboat) at
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio River ...
, for the Eagle Packet Company as the ''Cape Girardeau''.
She was engaged in the
packet trade
Generally, packet trade is any regularly scheduled cargo, passenger and mail trade conducted by ship. The ships are called "packet boats" as their original function was to carry mail.
A "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post ...
, initially carrying passengers and freight between
Louisville, Kentucky and
St. Louis,
Missouri, with annual trips to
New Orleans for
Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...
.
In 1935 she was sold to
Greene Line
The Greene Line was a line of river steamships along the Ohio River. The name was changed in 1973 to Delta Queen Steamboat Company.
History
The company was started in 1890 by Gordon C. Greene with Henry K. Bedford. When Gordon died in 1927 his s ...
for $50,000,
and renamed ''Gordon C. Greene'', after the
founder of the company, to operate as a tourist boat on the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
between
Pittsburgh and
Cincinnati, while still often making her annual trips to New Orleans.
In 1936 her Captain,
Thomas R. Greene added an extra "sun deck", increasing the number of passenger cabins, and she was later converted from coal to oil fuel. However, as time went on the boat suffered a series of mechanical breakdowns and was eventually withdrawn from service in 1951.
In 1952 she was sold, and then passed through a series of owners, none of whom seemed able to make her a profitable concern. First, under the name ''Sara Lee'', she was converted to a floating hotel at
Portsmouth, Ohio. Soon afterwards she was renamed ''River Queen'' to serve as a floating restaurant at
Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...
, and was later fitted out as a tourist attraction at
Bradenton, Florida
Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698.
History
Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...
. In 1954 her boilers were removed and were fitted into the steamboat ''Avalon'' (now the ''
Belle of Louisville''). In 1960 she was towed to
New Orleans to be converted to a night club, but was soon at
Hannibal, Missouri, serving as a restaurant. In 1964 she was sold for the last time, and was based at
St. Louis as a bar and restaurant. There, on the morning of 3 December 1967, the ''River Queen'' sank at her moorings.
Filmography
The ship appeared in several films.
* ''
Steamboat Round the Bend
''Steamboat Round the Bend'' is a 1935 American comedy film directed by John Ford, released by 20th Century Fox and produced by Fox Film Corporation, based on the 1933 novel of the same name by author Ben Lucien Burman. It was the final film mad ...
'' (1935)
* ''
Gone with the Wind'' (1939)
* ''
The Kentuckian'' (1955)
References
External links
*
*
*
* {{cite web , url=http://www.remarkableohio.org/HistoricalMarker.aspx?historicalMarkerId=629 , title=Marker #10-84 Captain Gordon C. Greene / Captain Mary Becker Greene , work=Remarkable Ohio , year=2013 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719040351/http://www.remarkableohio.org/HistoricalMarker.aspx?historicalMarkerId=629 , archivedate=2011-07-19
1923 ships
Ships built in Jeffersonville, Indiana
Paddle steamers of the United States
Delta Queen Steamboat Company