Avalon (Excursion boat, 1948-1961)

Photographer

Goergen, Margery

Date

• ca. 1949-ca. 1951

Summary

• BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sternwheel
• BOAT TYPE: Excursion
• BUILT: 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the Idlewild; renamed Avalon in February 1948
• FORMERLY: Idlewild
• BECAME: Belle of Louisville in 1962
• FINAL DISPOSITION: Sold at auction in 1962 to Jefferson County Fiscal Court, Louisville, Kentucky and renamed Belle of Louisville
• OWNERS: J. Herod Gorsage (1948); Steamer Avalon, Incorporated (1950); Jefferson County Fiscal Court, Louisville, Kentucky (1962)
• OFFICERS & CREW: Captain Ernest E. Wagner (1961); Clarke (Doc) Hawley (first mate, 1961)
• RIVERS: Mississippi River; Ohio River; Missouri River; Kanawha River; Tennessee River; Cumberland River; Illinois River, St. Croix River
• OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - 0403; Renamed in 1948 by J. Herod Gorsage, Peoria, Illinois to grant the deathbed wish of Captain Ben Winters who had first worked on the former Avalon; after being sold in 1950 to Steamer Avalon based at Cincinnati, she operated excursions on the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Kanawha, etc. until sold in 1962 to Jefferson County Fiscal Court. As the Avalon she had several minor accidents, the worst of which happened while entering the Emsworth Lock, Ohio River on May 24, 1958. Engine failure caused her to hit the lower gate and 23 were injured. In May 1961 she hit a low overhead wire at Nitro, West Virginia on the Kanawha River and damaged her stacks. In 1961 she became celebrated taking a boatload of Girl Scouts Memphis to New Orleans and another delegation back to Memphis during which Captain Ernest E. Wagner and first mate Clarke Hawley were joined up as official Girl Scouts