River Queen (Packet-Restaurant, 1961-1967)

BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sternwheel

BOAT TYPE: Packet-Restaurant

BUILT: 1923 at Jeffersonville, Indiana at Howard Ship Yard

FORMERLY: Cape Girardeau; Gordon C. Greene

FINAL DISPOSITION: Sank in the Mississippi River at St. Louis on December 3, 1967

RIVERS: Mississippi River

OTHER INFORMATION: As the Gordon C. Greene, she was retired at Cincinnati and sold in 1952 to become a floating hotel at Portsmouth, Ohio named Sarah Lee. In 1955 she was renamed the Sternwheeler and became a restaurant and museum at Owensboro, Kentucky. After spending some time as a floating restaurant and/or tourist attraction in Florida, she was converted in 1960 to a theater, bar and tourist attraction at New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1961 she was sold to Hannibal, Missouri and renamed River Queen, selling food and drink. In 1964 she was moved to St. Louis, near the Eads bridge, and was used as a restaurant until she sank in December 1967. Her wreckage was removed but the steel hull remained and portions could be seen during low water. Her whistle went to the River Museum in Marietta, Ohio and other artifacts were donated to the Cape Girardeau Museum

PHOTO DESCRIPTION: Left to right: River Queen, Denis Brown