Picture the steamboat once named Idlewild, built in Pittsburgh in 1914, now moored at Louisville, Kentucky's downtown wharf as the Belle of Louisville. She even claims to be the "most widely traveled river steamboat in American history," her offices are aboard Mayor Andrew Broaddus, and she appears on the list of National Historic Landmarks. Originally named Idlewild, she was built in 1914 by James Rees & Sons Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the West Memphis Packet Company.
In her first life she ferried passengers between Memphis, Tennessee, and West Memphis, Arkansas, and hauled cargo such as cotton, lumber, and grain. In 1931 she came to Louisville and ran trips between the Fontaine Ferry amusement park near downtown and Rose Island, a resort about 14 miles upriver. From 1934 through World War II Idlewild kept a regular excursion schedule, was outfitted with special equipment to push oil barges, and served as a floating USO nightclub for troops.
Notice the river beside her and the Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere where she's moored, a steamboat with history stretching back to her days as Idlewild.