Sprague, built at Dubuque, Iowa's Iowa Iron Works in 1901 by Captain Peter Sprague for the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company, was the world's largest steam powered sternwheeler towboat.[1] She was nicknamed Big Mama,[2] and was capable of pushing 56 coal barges at once. In 1907, Sprague set a world's all-time record for towing: 60 barges of coal, weighing 67,307 tons, covering an area of 6+1⁄2 acres, and measuring 925 feet (282 m) by 312 feet (95 m).[3] She was decommissioned as a towboat in 1948.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Sprague |
| Builder | Peter Sprague |
| In service | 1902 |
| Out of service | 1948 |
| Nickname(s) | Big Mama |
| Fate | Destroyed by fire, 15 April 1974 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Towboat |
| Length | 276 ft (84 m) |
| Beam | 61 ft (19 m) |
| Draft | 7.4 ft (2.3 m) |
| Installed power | 2,079 hp (1,550 kW) |
| Propulsion | coal-fired steam |
Legacy edit
After decommissioning, Sprague became a museum on the Vicksburg, Mississippi, waterfront. For many years the long-running melodrama Gold in the Hills was performed there. The boat burned in Vicksburg on 15 April 1974,[4] and as of 2019, pieces still remain in Vicksburg, Mississippi.[5]
A model of Sprague is in the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa. The model was made in 1908 by Elizabeth Marine Ways a steamboat yard in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, and was put on show at the Pittsburgh Exposition of 1908.[6] Another model of Sprague can be found in the Portland Museum in the Portland neighborhood of Louisville, KY.[7]
The Friends of the Sprague organization sponsored a mural entitled The Big Mama of the Mississippi as one of the Vicksburg Riverfront Murals. It was dedicated on 23 March 2007.[8]
References edit
- ^ "The Builders". Features & Exhibits. National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- ^ "Big Mama". Pennsylvania Jack. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ^ "Steamboat Navigation". Mississippi River Navigation. United States Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
- ^ "A Mississippi Sidewheeler Is Burned at Her Moorings". The New York Times. 17 April 1974. Retrieved 18 December 2012. (subscription required)
- ^ "Remains of the SPRAGUE". Steamboats.org. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- ^ Mohney, Jay. W. "Steamboat Building in Elizabeth, PA". elizabethmarineways.com. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
- ^ "Home". Portland Museum. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
- ^ "Vicksburg Riverfront Mural "The Big Mama of the Mississippi"". Retrieved 18 December 2012.