New Orleans (Packet, 1911-1918?)

Summary

• BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sidewheel
• BOAT TYPE: Packet
• BUILT: 1911 at Elizabeth, Pennsylvania
• OWNERS: Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania; Captain Willie Ditch
• OFFICERS & CREW: Captain Melvin O. Irwin (master, 1911); Thomas Walker (engineer, 1911); Robert Kimble (clerk, 1911); J. Orville Noll (steward, 1911)
• RIVERS: Mississippi River; Ohio River; Monongahela River
• OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - 4182; Built under the supervision of Captain James A. Henderson as a replica of the original Western steamboat of the same name. She was built for the 100th anniversary of steamboating on inland rivers. In 1911, the replica boat traced the maiden voyage of the original boat in 1811 from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. When she reached New Orleans she was sold to Captain Ditch. He converted her to a gas-powered twin prop freight boat to run New Orleans-Abbeville, Louisiana and then to Bayou Vermillion. This venture proved unsuccessful
• PHOTO DESCRIPTION: On the ways