Belle of Louisville

The Belle of Louisville is the oldest operating Mississippi River-style steamboat in the world. Originally named the Idlewild, she was built in 1914 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was designed to be a ferry and day packet vessel (for freight work) and was also outfitted for her later career as an excursion boat. Completely paddlewheel-driven with a steel hull that draws only 5' of water, she was able to travel on virtually every navigable inland waterway, earning her the distinction of being the most widely traveled river steamboat in the nation. The Belle was named a National Historic Landmark on June 30, 1989.