ADVERTISEMENTS FROM SOUVENIR BOOK
Bedding
China-Railings-Steel
Work
Kitchens Postal Card (Repro)
Plumbing
Meats
Wire-Iron-Bronze
Work
Reed Furniture
Various
1912 Pass for a V.I.P.
L & C Packet Co. envelope
1894 Ad.
Loading
Steamboat
Snag
Boat
Steamboat at night
These boats cleared the
river of obstacles.
Steamboat Bonanza
Steamboat Lizzie Bay
Queen City. Pittsburgh
& Cincinnati Packet Co.
ran from 1885 to 1916
Virginia
Not a postcard
Island Belle
1925
Virginia in cornfield
The Sternwheeler Virginia was one of the boats
owned by the Pittsburgh & Cincinnati Packet Co. In 1910 it was caught in a
flood at Willow Grove, West Virginia. The water set the boat down 750' from the
river in a cornfield. Through the use of cribbing and rollers the movers, (John
Eichleay Jr. Company from Pittsburgh, Pa.) was able to move the 235' long boat
to the river's edge. The steepness of the bank presented problems. According to
the local papers, "Eichleay prayed for rain" and the rains came, the
river rose and the Virginia floated into the river. The first postcard
above show the Virginia after it had been re-floated. The sign on the side of
the boat in the 1st card states the above facts. The boat was renamed the Steel City in 1912 and
was then acquired by the Coney Island Co. in 1923 and renamed The Island
Belle. In 1927 it was again resold to the Greater New Orleans Amusement
Co. Docked at Paducah it was rebuilt and renamed Greater New Orleans. The 4th
image is not a postcard.
The images below show the construction of the Virginia, various
views of the interior, and more shots of the boat stranded in the cornfield.
Construction in
1895 Main Cabin
1895 Looking forward
1896 Ladies Cabin
1895 Ladies Cabin
1905
Various scenes of Virginia in cornfield
Capt. J. F. Ellison
Superintendent
FOR MORE
STEAM BOATS 
