Name: Goldenrod Showboat
Year: 1909
Architectural Firm/Architect: Captain W. R. Markle
Standard Architectural Styles: GOTHIC REVIVAL
Designation: City Landmark, National Historic Landmark,
Neighborhood: 35
History:
This boat is the last remaining example of the second great era of showboating that ended in the 1920´s. In the vernacular of show business it was known as "The World´s Greatest Showboat", and was among the most elaborate and largest craft of its kind. The "Goldenrod" was originally constructed as a stern-wheel steamboat at Parkersburg, West Virginia in 1909, for W. R. Markle. It was sold at an auction to R. W. Emerson in 1914 and came into the possession of Captain Bill Menke in 1922. It toured various river towns for fifteen years before tying up permanently at St. Louis in 1937. Durilig the 1936 season it tramped the Ohio River with Major Bowe´s Amateur Hour and Monte Blue. Red Skelton and Kathy Nolan performed aboard her at various times. After a disastrous fire in 1962, the "Goldenrod" was reopened in 1965 and has since become a civic fixture on the St. Louis levee and has been declared a national and local landmark. The Goldenrod Showboat has the distinction of being the only city landmark to sail away. The boat first moved to Iowa, but is now moored in St. Charles.
people
• structures • events
• sources • home
about
historic preservation• new entries• 4 kids only• map it!
This
site was made possible by: the City of St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency and
the City of St. Louis Community
Information Network.
This site was funded in part by Federal funds administered by the Missouri State Historical Preservation
Office, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, The National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Version 1.0