Old Boat Column: The Avalon: A Widely Traveled Excursion Boat
The previous installment of the Old Boat Column introduced the steamer Idlewild, built in Pittsburgh in 1914 by the James Rees & Sons Company for the West Memphis Packet Company. In the Memphis, Tenn., area, the boat served as a ferry, day packet and excursion boat. It was sold in 1928 to the New St. Louis & Calhoun County Packet Company of Hardin, Ill., which utilized the boat in the warm weather months as a tramp excursion boat and solicited towing jobs during the colder seasons.
This column focuses on how the boat made a name for itself as the steamer Avalon.
According to “Moonlight at 8:30,” a definitive tome on excursion boats authored by Capt. Alan Bates and Capt. Clarke C. “Doc” Hawley, the Idlewild was sold in August 1927 to Caesare Maestri of New Orleans, who operated boats under the Greater New Orleans Amusement Company. The Idlewild ran excursions in the Crescent City along with the Greater New Orleans, which was the former Upper Ohio packet Virginia, famed for being stranded in a cornfield in 1910. This company ran in direct competition with the Streckfus Line to the extent that Streckfus bought it out. The Idlewild, though, was considered too small, so the Streckfus Line did not take it, and the Greater New Orleans was dismantled. In February 1928, the Idlewild was sold to the New St. Louis firm, which was made up of Alvina Blumberg, John C. Meyer, Capt. John Phillips and Henry C. Meyer.
“Moonlight at 8:30” describes another unusual towing job that the Idlewild performed in 1938. A large electric dredge was delivered from Meredosia, Ill., to Island 8 on the Lower Mississippi River below Hickman, Ky. The ownership of the New St. Louis firm continued through the World War II era, and in April 1947, the boat was sold to J. Herod Gorsage of Peoria, Ill. From all indications, under this ownership the boat was a full-time excursion vessel. In 1948 the name of the boat was changed to Avalon, honoring the death bed request of Capt. Ben Winters, who had started his career on the original boat of that name. By this time, the fanciful domed roof on the pilothouse had been removed, leaving it flat and unadorned.
Not long after the boat was renamed Avalon it was again sold, this time to Ernst A. Meyer, whose company was called Steamer Avalon Inc. Meyer previously had worked as the traffic manager for the ill-fated Island Queen that exploded at Pittsburgh on September 9, 1947 (see the September 16 Old Boat Column in The Waterways Journal), and he staffed the Avalon with many former Island Queen crew members. The boat then became a true tramp excursion steamer, going from town to town following Meyer, who served as an “advance man” as he went well ahead of the boat arranging charters and trips in various communities. Later, he mentored the indomitable Betty Blake for this position.
In 1953 the oil burning boilers from the Gordon C. Greene replaced the Avalon’s old coal burning boilers. In the following year, the hull was widened to 41 feet by the addition of sponsons on each side. It became the most widely traveled of any excursion boat and was on virtually the entire Mississippi River system at one time or another. Capt. Ernest Wagner was long the master and Capt. Doc Hawley worked his way up from calliope player and popcorn popper to mate and later alternate master. Capt. Arthur “Red” Schletker was another fill-in master. Celebrated pilots included Capt. Carter Sewell Smith (with a license that stated he was authorized “From Pittsburgh to the Sea”), Capt. J. Emory Edgington and many others.
Another that had his start on the Avalon was Capt. Don Sanders, who joined the crew as a cabin boy just out of high school in 1959 and worked aboard for two summers, elevating to deckhand. He would later be a master of the Delta Queen, and he has written extensively in newspaper stories of his experiences. Some of his stories were compiled to form a book titled “The River: River Rat to Steamboatman, Riding ‘Magic River Spell’ to 65-year Adventure.” Sanders has speculated that he may now be the last living former crew member of the Avalon.
The Avalon was locking up at Emsworth Lock, just below Pittsburgh, on May 24, 1958, when a malfunction caused it to hit the lower gate. The impact injured 23 passengers. The resulting lawsuits, which went on over the next few years, had grave implications for the aging steamboat.
The Avalon continued tramping, and in 1961 had two very memorable trips. On June 22 of that year, while at Memphis the boat took aboard 500 girl scouts for a trip to New Orleans. With no quarters, the girls made do with sleeping bags. The boat landed at New Orleans on June 27, and upon arrival, the crew learned they had 490 more girl scouts to take back to Memphis. They arrived a week later.
Following the 1961 season, due in large part to the financial stresses of the lock accident lawsuits, the Avalon was laid up at Cincinnati. The company declared bankruptcy, and the boat was advertised to be sold at auction. Most felt that this was the end for the 47-year-old vessel, and that it would go to a scrap dealer for dismantling. As it sat forlornly awaiting its fate it was vandalized and robbed of equipment and furnishings.
Next week’s column will look at the ensuing 62 years in the life of this remarkable boat.
