Showboats and Floating Circuses Page
New Information Added
02/28/2007
Showboats and Floating Circuses
Name: BRYANT'S NEW SHOWBOAT
Launched: 19?? (Haven't been able to track down when this showboat actually started in business - D.) Area: Ohio and Miss. Rs. Owner: Captain William (Billy) Bryant Towboats: 1907, PRINCESS 1919, Mar. Purchased VALLEY BELLE Later, the NEW LOTUS Comments: Bryant eventually gave up the showboat and went to doing tent shows. : The barge which was actually the "showboat" was later turned into a Wharf boat by a Huntington concern. Name: CHAPMAN'S FLOATING PALACE Launched: 1841 Destroyed: 1847, collision Area: Miss. R. Owner: Chapman, William Captain and pilots: Capt. Chapman, William Comments: Sold to Smith, Sol, Actor. Name: CHAPMAN'S FLOATING THEATER Type: Keelboat Launched: 1831 Area: Miss. R. and Pittsburg Owner: Chapman, William Captain and pilots: Capt. Chapman, William Comments: sold after 1 yr. Name: CITY OF CLINTON SHOWBOAT See OMAR Name: CITY OF PARKERSBURGH SHOWBOAT See LIBERTY Name: The Cole Circus Company Towboat: 1876, Oct,-77, spring, ELLA HUGHES 1. Name: COTTON BLOSSOMType: Showboat Owner: 191?-19??, Jan?, Capt. Otto Hitner Area: 1918: to Mt. Vernon, Ind. Towboat: 1918, JEWELL (the 2nd one) Comments: 1918, Jan., the JEWELL was cut down by ice. : See account of sinking Name: COTTON BLOSSOM Comments: From site visitor Doug McGuigan - Sadly I finally located the Cotton Blossom used in Showboat and many other MGM movies in the 50's and 60's. MGM sold her to an amusement park-Worlds of Fun- in Kansas City in the early 70's where she set in a large pond untill three years ago when the pond was drained and she was taken apart with bull dozers. A sad end to a pretty lady.
From
Site Contributor Leonard Brown
Name: EISENBARTH-HENDERSON FLOATING THEATER See Flyer Owener: Capt. E.E. Eisenbarth Comments: billed as The Modern Temple of Amusment. Producing the Higest Class Drama Vauderville, Music, Big Electrical Productions. Towboats: 1902-04, ENOS TAYLOR 1905, Feb. 1 - 1908, Mar. 15, COLUMBIA Name: EMERSON'S GRAND FLOATING PALACE, see GRAND FLOATING PALACE Name: FLOATING CIRCUS, See RICE'S Name: FLOATING PALACE See CHAPMAN'S and EMMERSON'S, above Name: FLOATING THEATER, See CHAPMAN'S Name: FRENCH'S NEW SENSATION, No. ? Type: barge boat? Launched: 1880s? Area: Ohio & Miss. Rs. Owner: Capt. A. B. French? Captain(s): French, Callie M. Towboats: 1897, before Mar., C.O. March, 1897: MARY STEWART July, 1897: RUTH *Early 1900s, CHARLES B. PEARCE Comments: Toured for 30 yrs. : Some info on this one of French's Showboats from: The Tribune Telegraph, Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio, Wed. Mar. 31 1897. : Mentioned in this Article Name: GOLDEN ROD/GOLDENROD - Originally MARKLES NEW SHOWBOAT
Type: barge, Floating Theater Size: 200' x 45' Launched: 1909, by the Pope Dock Company for R.W. Markle Destroyed: Presently an historic theater in St. Louis Area: 1930, summer for 17 weeks, Aspinwall, Pa. 1931, summer for 17 weeks, Aspinwall, Pa. 1937-62, June 1, Locust St. Landing, St. Louis, Mo. Owners: 1909-13, W. R. Markle In 1913 he lost the boat by forclosure. She went on auction and was sold for $ 11,000. 1922-, Purchased by Capt. Bill Menke 1964-1990, Frank Pierson and his heirs. 1990 - , City of St. Charles, Mo. Towboats: 1900-?13? W.R. MARKLE Later LIBERTY, WENONAH, and CROWN HILL Comments: originally called MARKLE'S NEW SHOWBOAT : 1930-31, summers, played at Aspinwall, Pen. : 1937, summer, went to St. Louis for repairs. : 1960, Declared a national Historic Monument. : 1962, June 1, fire heavily dammaged the boat. : 1964, Frank Pierson led a group of GOLDENROD lovers in complete restoration. : 1988, the boat needed extensive repairs. : 1990: The City of St. Charles, Mo, Purchased the boat. : 1990: Ample Entertainment, Inc. leased the boat and again restored her. : 1991, May 10, shows resumed at St. Charles. : 2001, closed due to financial problems. : 2003, given to Lewis and Clark Landing LLC. : GOLDENROD is haunted by a Lady in a Red Dress : See information from the 1951 book Showboat : More info Name: GRAND FLOATING PALACE Type: Showboat Area: Miss. R. & U. Kanawha R. Owner: Capt. Ralph Emmerson Gaches Towboats: 1921, the W.W. Name: GRAND FLOATING PALACE, NEW Type: Showboat Area: Miss. R. Owner: Capt. Ralph Emmerson Gaches Towboats: 1913-17, Dec. 8, ECLIPSE 1921-22, spring, the W.W.Name: JAMES ADAMS FLOATING THEATER Type: Barge with tugboats Size: 128.3' X 34' X 4.5', 436 tons Area: Mid-Atlantic coast, Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle region of North Carolina. Comments: Web Site Name: John Robinson's, See Below Name: MAJESTIC, A curently active showboat Launched: 1923, Pittsburgh Location: Cincinnati, OH Comments: Showboat MAJESTIC's Home Page : More Information Name: MARKLE'S NEW SHOWBOAT, was soon renamed GOLDENROD Name: MEMPHIS SHOWBOAT, Off. No. 297336 Type: Contemporary Showboat Barge Size: 103' X 40' X 4', Max. 141 tons, 412 Pass. Launched: Hull and superstructure built 1964 by Dubuque Boat & Boiler and completed by Memphis Queen Shipyard Area: 1964-Present (1999), Memphis Tenn. Owner: 1964-Present (1999), Memphis Queen Line Web Site Name: NEW SENSATION Type: Barge Showboat. Launched: 1870s? Area: Miss. R. Owner: Agustus French, Edwin Price, others Name: NEW SHOWBOAT Area: Long Island Sound Name: CITY OF CLINTON SHOWBOAT - formerly the towboat OMAR Type: sternwheel towboat Size: 207' X 36' 581 tons Launched: 1935, ?St. Louis.? Area: 1940's Ohio R., from the mines in West Virginia up river to Pittsburgh and down river to Cairo, IL. Barges were loaded at Huntington, WV. Owner: The Ohio River Company Persent: City of Clinton, Iowa. Comments: From site visitor David Rayburn "The Omar was donated to the State of West Virginia and the last heard of it, it was a tourist attraction located on the Kanawha River in front of the State Capital of West Virginia." : From site visitor Harvey Brennan 12/05/05 ". . . the "Omar" it's now named the "City of Clinton Showboat" converted to a floating Theatre in Clinton Iowa." : See OMAR's history Name: PALACE FLOATING CIRCUS Type: barge and boat Launched: 1850s? Destroyed: 1847, collision Area: Miss. R. Owner: Spalding and Rogers Towboat, NORTH RIVER ![]()
Name: RICE'S FLOATING CIRCUS Type: Barge Launched: 1850s Destroyed: 1872, died out. Owner: Dan Rice Towboat, DAMSEL Captains: Capt. Dan Rice 1. Name: RICE and DORE Type: FLOATING CIRCUS Area: 1915, summer, U. Miss. R. Owner: Towboats: 1915, summer, CITY of PARKERSBURG See Picture Page Name: ROBINSON'S FLOATING PALACES AND/OR CIRCUSType: Double barge showboat Comments: Cushioned chairs for 1,000 people. : In 1868 John Robinson organized a water carnival and used the 1865 COOSA as towboat. Ran up the Ohio R. to Rochester, Pa and back down to Charleston, on the Kanawha R. : Could this also have been Wild Bill Hickocks Wild West Show? See Towboats: 1884, Winter, W.P. THOMPSON Comments: I know, there is a wide time line on this entry. I can only guess this guy was in show biz for a long time. Name: Thayer & Noyes Circus Boat: 1866, CHARLEY BOWEN Name: SARI originally the JAMES Y LOCKWOOD Name: WATER QUEEN Type: Showboat barge Launched: 1880 Destroyed: 1915? Area: Miss. and Oh. R. Owner: Capt. Edwin A. Price, New Martinsville, W. Va. Captain: Edwin A. Price Comments: 1901-1927, Dec., Capt. Price's towboat was ARGAND 1. Way's Packet Directory, 1848 - 1994 3. Steamboats in the Valley From John Hartford, River Musician Click on picture to enlarge