Virginia
From PLCHC Wiki
| Boat Information | |
| Name: | Virginia |
| Origin: | Cincinnati, OH |
| Years Active: | |
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Now the Virginia appeared on the scene just before the turn of the century. It was built in 1895 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was 235 feet long, 40 feet wide and 7 feet deep. The engines were 15s X 30s with 7 foot stroke. It was built for the Pittsburgh-Cincinnati trade, hence it stopped at Marietta regularly. Virginia led a charmed life with a number of "firsts" to its credit. It was exceptionally quiet for a riverboat. It was finished in elegant style and was the first in the upper Ohio with a carbon-arc searchlight. Due to it's large paddlewheel and staggered buckets, Virginia was an unusually fast boat. It had 60 deluxe staterooms furnished in the most elegant manner of the day. It also got into more trouble than any other boat of it's period and still survived. In 1904, it hit a submerged pier at Steubenville and tore a 12 foot hole in its side. Prompt assistance kept it afloat that time. In April 1909, it struck another snag at Wellsville, Ohio where it promptly sank. Later, it sank again at Vanceburg, Ky. due to the machinery failing to back.
The celebrated event of Virginia's career took place when on March 6, 1910 it ambled down the Ohio on a flood. The pilot got lost in the area known as Willow Grove (where the Kaiser Aluminum Plant is now located below Ravenswood, W. Va.)--and suddenly felt a sickening groan and Virginia came to a dead halt. The searchlight revealed that Virginia had wandered far afield from the river and was now in the center of a huge cornfield. As the waters receded, the word flashed up and down the river that Virginia was in a cornfield. It became a famous and newsworthly event. The B&O Railroad began running excursions as well as boats on the river, cashing in on Virginia's unfortunate but rather ludicrous position, high and dry and warped to fit the contour of the land. Now, a Pittsburgh concern was hired to get Virginia back in the river which was quite an undertaking.
Things were going along in good shape and Virginia was pretty close to the shore line. Along came another flood and the Ohio took Virginia back into it's bosom. Well, there was differences of opinion who got the boat back and a law suit resulted. The farmer who couldn't plant his corn received $500 from a river steamboat occupying his farm land. Later Virginia was sold and renamed the Steel City. Sold again and again and renamed again and again, the Virginia was finally dismantled in 1927. For a Packetboat that lasted 32 years on the Ohio River (with a wood hull) it certainly established a record. Virginia in the cornfield is certainly one of the most celebrated river navigational events that ever occurred in West Virginia and the Ohio River. Capt. Fred Way, Jr., well known river authority and author, is writing a book entitled "Virginia In The Cornfield". How could it be otherwise?
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* From the Way Collection
