The Avalon

1951-06

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The Avalon
  • Title
  • The Avalon
  • Creator
  • Fisher
  • Identifier
  • MSP285.B020.F08.I01
  • Description
  • The "Avalon," a river excursion boat, first floated on the Allegheny River at Pittsburgh where she was built by the James Rees & Sons Company for the West Memphis Packet Company in 1914. Her original name was the "Idlewild," and her sturdy frame sat atop a steel hull that needed only five feet of water to float. Such a shallow draft allowed her passage on practically every navigable waterway in the United States - a feature she used to its full advantage throughout her remarkable life. The "Idlewild" operated as a passenger ferry between Memphis, Tennessee, and West Memphis, Arkansas. She also hauled cargo like cotton, lumber, and grain. She was the last of the old-fashioned steamboats to ‘tramp’ the river, going from port to port and taking people on sightseeing cruises in the day and dance cruises in the evening. In 1947 the "Idlewild" was sold to J. Herod Gorsage, and her name was changed to the "Avalon" the following year. The name change had been the deathbed wish of the boat's master, Captain Ben Winters, whose career had started aboard a different steamboat called the "Avalon." Another steamboat captain, recalls watching the "Avalon" when he was a boy from his parents home overlooking the Ohio River, “I loved to watch her at night," he said, "when she passed in front of our house, her lights ablaze like an elegant birthday cake, the sound of her calliope carrying on the wind. When I got older. I spent all my money to buy rides on the Avalon.” In 1962 a company in Louisville, Kentucky, purchased the boat and she was again renamed, the "Belle of Louisville."
  • Subject
  • Avalon (Steamship)
    Paddle steamers--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
    Point Bridge (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    Point State Park (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    Monongahela River (W. Va. and Pa.)
  • Contributor
  • Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center
  • Collection
  • Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs
  • Rights Information
  • The copyright and related rights status of this Item has been reviewed by the organization that has made the Item available, but the organization was unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the Item. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
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