Delta Queen Steamboat Company

The Greene Line was a line of river steamships along the Ohio River. The name was changed in 1973 to Delta Queen Steamboat Company.

The Delta Queen at the start of the 2004 Great Steamboat Race

History

The company was started in 1890 by Gordon C. Greene with Henry K. Bedford. When Gordon died in 1927 his sons: Christopher Becker Greene, Henry Wilkins Greene, and Thomas R. Greene ran the company.^[1][2] In 1969, a charter airline, Overseas National Airways (ONA) bought the company^[3] and changed its name in 1973 to "Delta Queen Steamboat Company".^[4] ONA commissioned the construction of the Mississippi Queen, but by the time the new ship first sailed in 1976, ONA had sold the company to the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York.^[5][6]

Ships

• H. K. Bedford (1886) was built in 1886 and purchased from the previous owner in 1890 and named after Henry K. Bedford.^[7]
• Gordon C. Greene (steamboat) (1923) named after Gordon C. Greene
• Thomas Greene (steamboat) (1925) named after Thomas R. Greene.^[8]
• Delta Queen (1924) was built in 1924 and purchased from the previous owner in 1946
• Mississippi Queen (steamboat) Built in the 1970s, and is not currently cruising, because it is being stripped, it also has the largest calliope to be put on a steamboat.
• American Queen Built in 1994, the largest Steamboat that works, now the flag ship for the American Queen Steamboat Company.

References

1. "Marker #10-84 Captain Gordon C. Greene / Captain Mary Becker Greene". Remarkable Ohio. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2011-02-25. ... Mary Becker Greene (1867-1949) married Gordon C. Greene in 1890 and raised three sons - Captain Chris, Captain Tom, and Henry Wilkins. She learned navigation and earned a pilot and masters license, becoming one of the most noted figures on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for more than a half century. The "Greene Line" fleet continued to expand with additions of the "Gordon C. Greene" and the "Delta Queen." Captain Mary Greene served as hostess on these steamboats. She died at the age of 81 on the renowned "Delta Queen," a National Historic Landmark.
2. "Greene Line Steamboats". Retrieved 2011-02-25. After Gordon died in 1927 Mary and her two sons, Chris and Tom (both Captains) ran the company. Captain Chris Greene died in 1944 leaving Mary and Tom to run the Greene Line. Mary died shortly after Tom Greene had brought the Delta Queen to Cincinnati in 1949. There is a life-size bronze statue of Captain Mary Becker Greene on the Covington-Newport Kentucky riverwalk overlooking the Cincinnati riverfront. Captain Tom Greene then died in 1950. It was now up to Tom's widow Mrs. Tom (Letha) Greene to take over the reins of the Company. The Greene line was in financial difficulties due to the purchase and renovations of the Delta Queen so Letha was forced to sell all the Greene line boats except the Delta Queen.
3. "Overseas National Airways, Disclaimer of Jurisdiction". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 52. Washington, DC: U.S. General Printing Office: 958–960. August–November 1969. hdl:2027/osu.32437011657869.
4. "Delta Queen Timeline". steamboats.com. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
5. The Mississippi Queen Detroit Free Press, 18 April 1976
6. One more look at the Mississippi Queen, Cincinnati Post, 31 July 1976
7. "H. K Bedford". Newport Ohio History. Retrieved 2011-02-25. The H K Bedford, the beginning of the famous Greene Line of today was built in 1886 at Jeffersonville, Ind. for the upper Cumberland River trade; 149 1-2 ft long, 26 ft beam, tonnage 139. In 1890 she was purchased by Capt. Gordon C Greene from Tim Armstrong and George M Greene and brought to Newport, Ohio, Capt. Greene's home. On June 20, H. E. Bevan, known as "Sandy," went aboard of her on this date and remained with Capt. Greene until Sept. 1896. ...
8. "Steamer Tom Greene Wins Race Upon Ohio River. Thousands Line Banks As The Betsy Ann Goes To Defeat By Small Margin". The Baltimore Sun. July 17, 1929. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-26. Commander Tom R. Greene, pilot of the winner, received from Commander Frederick Way, 28, of the Betsy Ann, a set of historic antlers as a symbol of victory ...