BUILT: 1917, Howard Boatyard, Jeffersonville, Indiana
FORMERLY: Indiana
FINAL DISPOSITION: Burned at Jeffersonville, Indiana, September 8, 1930
OWNERS: Louisville-Cincinnati Packet Company
OFFICERS & CREW: Captain James O'Brien (master), Roy McBride (pilot), Wymond Brasher (pilot), Frank Buening (purser), Floyd Goffenet (clerk), Henry McClananahan (chief engineer), Floyd "Skyjack" Turner (second engineer), Billy Sampson (steward)
RIVERS: Ohio River, Mississippi River
OTHER INFORMATION: Ways -0241; America's hull and machinery came from Indiana which had burned off her upper works at Cincinnati on May 1, 1916. She came away from Howards as a packet complete with staterooms, and was entered in the Louisville-Cincinnati trade. The engines originated on the Bostona, classic examples of the "broadhorn" type. She carried the whistle of the City of Louisville and had a framed roof bell handed down from the Telegraph No. 3. After several years she was remodeled to become a full-fledged excursion boat, all staterooms removed, etc., and operated principally at Louisville, Kentucky. She made a trip to Pittsburgh in September 1923, tramping and at least one to New Orleans. Louisiana. She and the Cincinnati ran a staged race at Louisville, Kentucky in 1928, a spectacular affair in which the American showed ability to win, but was prevented by management, a hotly debated topic for many years after. While laid up for the winter above Jeffersonville, Indiana she burned September 8, 1930. Arson was suspected but nothing proven
PHOTO DESCRIPTION: America at Pomeroy, Ohio, passengers on deck, train in front of boat