The Belle of Louisville
By Jay Gravatte

One of Louisville's most treasured monuments sits at the Ohio rivers edge, a testament to Louisville's past as a river town. The grand Belle of Louisville has had a long and sometimes notorious history. She is one of the last remaining true steamboats traveling on the rivers. Her career began in 1914 when the first hull pieces were welded together in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania at the James Rees and Sons shipyard.

She was christened the Idlewild ands he took her place as one of the West Memphis Packet and ferry Co. excursion vessels. For almost thirty years she traveled through waterways from Memphis Tennessee to Memphis Arkansas. In the early 20th century it is estimated that she carried thousands of passengers.

In the 1920's the Idlewild began being used as a "tramp". Tramping is the term for boats that went from town to town offering excursions on the river. the Idlewild tramped most of the eastern river systems such as the Ohio, Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri,. in 1931 the Idlewild was charted
by the Rose island Company and operated as a ferry between Fountain Ferry park in western Louisville and rose island, a resort 14 miles upriver from Louisville for one season. In 1934, the Idlewild returned to Louisville and began offering regular excursions.

During WWII, the Idlewild was put into service, and began making tow runs on the Ohio. She also operated as part of the USO, entertaining troops from nearby Fort Knox while they were on leave. Around this time the ship came under the command of Captain Ben Winters, who had had a very
long and often torrent career on the river. Winters was a strict ship master. He expected no less than absolute loyalty and expediency in his crew following his orders.

There is a well known story concerning Winters, in which a deck hand and the captain had argued, then apparently made amends. Winters then asked the deckhand to go back onto the paddelwheel and check their status. Winters upon returning to the pilot house immediately ordered the engineer to begin pumping steam to the paddle wheel. This would have caused the deckhand to be killed, luckily he moved out of the way just in time. Winter was not above breaking the law, as he installed gambling games and slot machines on board the ship. In 1947, the sheriff's department raided the Idleqwild and during the ensuing raid Winters suffered a heart attack in his cabin and died. His dying wish was that the boat be renamed the Avalon, as Winters career had began aboard another steamer with the name. Interestingly, according to river lore it is unlucky to rename a boat after she has been christened.

The newly renamed Avalon was then purchased by J. Herod Gorsage and continued as an excursion boat for the next two years, until it was sold to a group of investors from Cincinnati Ohio. until 1960, she was one of the most traveled ships on the river system. By 1962 however, The Avalon was in a state of disrepair, and in massive need of refitting. It was put on the auction block. Former Jefferson County Judge / Executive Marlow Cook purchased it for $34,000. This caused some contention with city tax payers, that public money was used to buy a decrepit boat. Cook in turn did the math and figured that it cost each tax payer six cents to purchase the Avalon. He even kept a jar of pennies on his desk, in case anyone wanted a refund.

After nearly a year in dry dock undergoing repairs and improvements, the newly re-christened Belle of Louisville made its introduction on April 30th 1963 in a race with the Delta Queen steamboat. This then led to the traditional annual race between the two that continues today. In 1989, the Belle of Louisville was named as a national historic monument, and is now one of the last remaining symbols of American river history.

There is another side of the history of the Belle of Louisville, a much deeper history that is not known to the general public.

It is believed that some of the crew and passengers boarding her throughout its 90 year history have yet to disembark. Much unexplained activity is said to take place on all of her decks. In the engine room, an unseen person can be heard whistling a tune very distinctly. The current crew believes this to be Floyd the deckhand, tragically killed when crushed by a pittman arm that controls the paddle wheel. According to river lore, the pilot house on a steamer is a very personal place to the ship-masters. It is their private sanctuary. Some pilots take great offenses if they are intruded upon while tending their ships. This might explain why a mate was shoved down the stairs leading up to the pilot house during on of his late night watches.

During another watch shift, a crewman doing his rounds noticed that the main wheel in the pilot house was moving on its own. He knew that the wheel is locked tight while the ship is docked and only someone in the pilot house could move it. Upon investigating there was no one in the pilot house and the door was locked. One of the more interesting incidents reported on the Belle happened late on night in the captains quarters. A crewman sat in the captains quarters writing his report. The air in the room turned cold and a feeling of being watched grew over him. He turned and it was then that he encountered a man dressed in a captains uniform, the man had a gaunt weathered face, was bald and had a white beard. Remembering dozens of photos that he had seen from his time serving on the Belle, the mate instantly recognized this phantom in front of him. The only person who fit this description was the ships former master, Captain Benjamin Winters.

Over the last several years, the LGHS has had the opportunity to conduct several investigations aboard the Belle, however our results were inconclusive.
 

Wheel house on the top deck of the boat where Captain Ben Winter's suffered his fatal heart attack back in 1948. We were told by a Belle employee this is one of the more active areas on the boat.