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''Belle of Louisville'' is a steamboat owned and operated by the city of Louisville, Kentucky, and moored at its downtown wharf next to the Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere during its annual operational period. Originally named ''Idlewild'', she was built by James Rees & Sons Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the West Memphis Packet Company in 1914 and was first put into service on the Allegheny River. Constructed with an all-steel superstructure and asphalt main deck, the steamboat is said to hold the all-time record in her class for miles traveled, years in operation, and places visited. ''Belle of Louisville''s offices are aboard ''Mayor Andrew Broaddus'', also a National Historic Landmark. ==History== ''Idlewild'' operated as a passenger ferry between Memphis, Tennessee, and West Memphis, Arkansas. She also hauled cargo such as cotton, lumber, and grain. She then came to Louisville in 1931 and ran trips between the Fontaine Ferry amusement park near downtown Louisville and Rose Island, a resort about upriver from Louisville. ''Idlewild'' operated a regular excursion schedule from 1934 through World War II, during which she was outfitted with special equipment to push oil barges along the river. She also served as a floating USO nightclub for troops stationed at military bases along the Mississippi River. In 1947, she was sold to J. Herod Gorsage, and honoring the death-bed wish of Master Ben Winters, long time captain of ''Idlewild,'' was renamed ''Avalon''. Over the next few years, ''Avalon'' visited ports all along the Mississippi, Missouri, St. Croix, Illinois, Kanawha, Ohio, and Cumberland Rivers. Her many stops included Omaha, Nebraska; Stillwater, Minnesota; Montgomery, West Virginia; and Nashville, Tennessee. By 1962, ''Avalon'' had fallen into disrepair, and might have seen the end of her days, when Jefferson County Judge Marlow Cook bought her at an auction for $34,000 in hopes of restoring the city's connection to the waterfront. The relationship between the city of Louisville and its beloved waterfront had begun to dwindle over the years due to the advancement in automobiles and the building of the elevated I-64 roadway, but the purchase of the steamboat that had a wealth of history with the city was the perfect solution. She came to Louisville and was re-christened ''Belle of Louisville''. The purchase of ''Belle of Louisville'' sparked the beginning of multiple attempts to reform the relationship between the city of Louisville and the river on which it was located. Some of these efforts include the creation of the Belvedere, an elevated outdoor space that overlooks the Ohio River, and the nationally recognized Waterfront Park that stretches along a portion of the river. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Belle of Louisville」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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