Queen City (Packet/Wharf boat, 1897-1940)

BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sternwheel

BOAT TYPE: Packet/Wharf boat

BUILT: 1897 by Cincinnati Marine Railway Company at Cincinnati, Ohio

FINAL DISPOSITION: Sank at Pittsburgh in January 1940; her wreckage was burned on February 17, 1940

OWNERS: 1897: Pittsburgh & Cincinnati Packet Line; 1912: John W. Hubbard, Ohio & Mississippi Navigation Company; 1918: Louisville & Cincinnati Packet Company; 1929: Ohio River Transportation Company

OFFICERS & CREW: 1897: Captain Robert R. Agnew (master), James S. Gardner (purser), Will Chapman (2nd clerk), Anthony Meldahl and Phil Anshutz (pilots), John Leonard (mate), Willard Alexander and Marsh Ellis (engineers), Charles J. Hall (steward), Henry Greer (carpenter); 1900: Captain Thomas Spence Sanford (master), Boyd C. Taylor (clerk), Billy Sampson (steward), Willard Alexander and Eugene Bailey (engineers), Billy Stapleton (mate), Dan Lacey (purser), Anthony Meldahl and Phil Anshutz (pilots),Captain John Sweeney (master); 1901: Captain Charles W. Knox (master); 1913: Captain Edwin F. Maddy; 1914: Captain William C. Lepper; 1918: Captain Ed Williamson (master), Captain Jack Lindenburn (master); 1929: Captain Ed Dunaway (master), Captain Ralph Emerson (master); 1933: Captain William S. Pollock

RIVERS: Ohio River; Mississippi River; Monongahela River; Chattahoochee River; Kanawha River

OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - 4615; Architect Captain J. Frank Ellison was also supervisor during her building. The Queen City was designed for high class patronage at a time of affluence. Captain Ellison was influenced in his design by the Idlewild and he had made a study of Great Lakes steamers which he utilized. Her mahogany cabin was finished in gilt trim and the ceiling was of pressed metal sheets with ornate design. She had wire mesh railings studded with rosettes. She had a carved figurehead rising from her stem which she retained until she was rebuilt at Mound City, Illinois in 1920. A metal Queen City emblem in gold appeared on each stateroom door. Her grand piano was presented by the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. She had oil paintings on the rounded cabin bulkheads. She had shining brass oil lamps in swinging brackets and overhead lights coming from twined oak leaves of metal. Queen City and her sister boat, Virginia, were advertised in Pittsburgh's social register and brought

PHOTO DESCRIPTION: The Queen City backing away from Madison, Indiana. Photo taken by Alene Stottlebower in July 1919