BELLE
Aaron Burch
T
here are few Louisville icons more noteworthy than the Belle
of Louisville steamboat.
Sitting on the southern bank of the Ohio River it calls home,
the Belle has been a Louisville staple for 51 years. However, the historic river runner’s life began much earlier. On October 18, 2014,
the celebrity steamboat turns 100, making her the oldest steamboat
in America and the second oldest in the world.
The City of Louisville will celebrate this extraordinary 100th
birthday in a six-day festival taking place from Oct. 14-19, and
culminating that Saturday with a parade of river boats, exclusive
dinners and a fireworks celebration. The entire event will also feature
an on-land festival at Waterfront Park, “The Centennial Festival of
Riverboats,” including live concerts, children’s games, art booths,
craft vendors and special bourbon and wine tastings for adults.
Belle of Louisville CEO Linda Harris has collaborated with the city
for four years to make this celebration come to life. “At 100 years,
this boat is as beautiful as she’s ever been,” said Harris, who has
helped steer the Belle for the latest 10 years of her life. “We feel like
this birthday bash will be the biggest party Louisville has ever seen
for this famous Kentucky lady. We’re going to have five river boats
including the Belle on the waterfront for all six days with guests
able to take cruises out in the morning, noon, night and late night.”
Just weeks away from the event, Harris took time to remember
where the Belle of Louisville began and how it came to be so revered
in Derby City. “The Belle has had so many jobs in her 100 years. I
like to refer to her as a rock star because she has kept reinventing
herself to stay a viable entity,” said Harris.
The Belle of Louisville began life as the Idlewild in 1914. Built
by the West Memphis Packet Company of Memphis, Tennessee,
the Idlewild moved cargo, cattle, cotton, whiskey and more from
Tennessee to Arkansas for over ten years, before trading packets
for people. During these early transports, the Idlewild first visited
Louisville where she served as a seasonal excursion boat from 1934
through the end of World War II. She did her part for the war,
when special bumpers attached to her bow allowed her to push
supply barges during the day. At night, she docked and turned into
a nightclub for USO troops.
“She’s never been an overnight boat,” said Harris. “She’s never had
cabins, so she’s a day boat. But, she could travel to different cities,
stay for a season and run excursions out of each city.”
In 1947, the Idlewild was sold to J. Herod Gorsage, who changed
her name to the Avalon to fulfill a deathbed wish made by the boat’s
master captain at the time. The Avalon continued to travel up and
down the Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri rivers offering cruises of
all types. One of her most popular features was a large dance floor,
where popular bands and singers attracted new guests wherever
the boat tied up.
“This boat has been all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico, all
the way up to Wisconsin and Pittsburgh. She has traveled every
navigable water way in the Mississippi-Ohio system, and she’s been
able to do that because she only has a five foot draft. So she could
go back in little rivers and give people the steamboat experience
that other steamboats couldn’t do,” said Harris.
Today, the Belle of Louisville holds the distinction of being the
most traveled steam boat in American history. A large portion of
those miles came from the boat’s time as a tramp steamer, when as
the Avalon she traveled day by day to towns along the Ohio River.
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SEPTEMBER 2014
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