Jackson Purchase Historical Society

A presentation by Kadie Engstrom, Education Coordinator Belle of Louisville, will be given at the  McCracken County Public Library on Thursday, September 15th at 7:00 p.m. The presentation will be part of the ‘Evenings Upstairs @ Your Library’ and sponsored by the McCracken County Public Library & The Friends of the Library. Ms. Engstrom’s presentation is in conjunction with the 2011 National Steamboat Bicentennial Celebration and will include information about the Ohio River and will highlight the rich history of the first steamboats on the Ohio River.  She will also target the historic steamboat, Belle of Louisville which first sailed on the Allegheny River at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was built by James Rees & Sons Company for the West Memphis Packet Company in 1914. Her original name was the Idlewild. During the 1920′s, the Idlewild shipped the Ohio, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri River systems. The program is free and open to the public in the upstairs community room of the  McCracken County Public Library. For additional information contact Bobbie Wrinkle 270-442-2510 X 119 or  bwrinkle@mclib.net.