From Wikipedia:
"A showboat was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the inhabitants of river frontiers. Showboats were a special type of riverboat designed to carry passengers rather than cargo, and they had to be pushed by a small towboat, also known as a pusher, which was attached to it. Showboats were rarely steam-powered because the steam engine had to be placed right in the auditorium for logistical reasons, therefore making it difficult to have a large theater."
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| The Cotton Blossom Showboat was built in 1908. It was then known as the Great Modern Temple of Amusement. |
The Cotton Blossom was crushed by ice during the winter of 1918. This article was taken from the Mt. Vernon(Indiana) Western Star
"We return now to another cold weather story, which includes an ice gorge, a
frozen Ohio river and the sinking of a show boat at a local wharf.
The Steamer Jewel and the show boat Cotton Blossom were forced to tie up
here due to heavy ice floes and later the gorge; and when the gorge started
breaking the boats were torn loose from their moorings by the moving ice and
sank on a reef just west of the Mt. Vernon Water works. The Cotton Blossom
was broken in two with its nose touching the bank and the Steamer Jewel
which was used in towing the show boat was at the stern of the Cotton
Blossom with water over the entire lower deck.
Both boats had been docked here for three months and the freeze up of the
river was so sudden that Capt. Otto Hitner, in charge of the craft, was
unable to move them to a safe harbor.
Another boat, the dismantled Steamer Clyde, owned by the Flesher Boat Co. of
this city, was tied up just above the American Hominy Co. mill (now the Mt.
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| Date Unknown |
Vernon Milling Co.) and the moving ice carried it down stream and lodged it
against the covered Barge, Belle V. Flesher, also owed by the Mt. Vernon
firm. The company's towboat D.T. Flesher was docked in clear water just
below McFadden's Creek and was safe. A flat boat owned by the Fleshers was
carried down the river to the foot of Store St. (now College Ave.)
The ice gorge formed down stream near Slim Island and as more ice came down
the Ohio the gorge was finally backed up several miles before the breakup
occurred.
The two sunken boats were valued at $25,000 and were insured. After the
marine adjuster had made a satisfactory settlement with Capt. Hitner, the
theater boat was sold back to the captain and the Steamer Jewel was sold to
the local Flesher Co. Both boats were dismantled as crews of men made
frantic efforts to salvage as much as possible from the two crafts before
the real force of the moving gorge could destroy the boats completely."
