Topic starter
12/10/2006 3:17 pm
Today in History notes the death of John Streckfus, founder of Streckfus Steamers. He died in St. Louis, which is where he relocated the headquarters, but it all started here in the Rock Island area. The Commodore was born in Edgington, just south of RI, and moved into town at an early age. There were three Streckfus homes, one of which is still standing and occupied. The other two were demolished years ago. He started his river business by delivering groceries via boat between RI and Andalusia and quickly got into the excursion business. The first boat he had built for the company was the original JS, built in 1901 at Howard Shipyard. While this was built as an excursion boat with a long dance floor, they did some longer trips at first. After its demise, he bought the four Diamond Jo Line packets and gradually converted them into excursion boats: Quincy/JS Deluxe, Sidney/Washington, Saint Paul/Saint Paul/Senator, and the Dubuque/Capitol. These were later replaced by the President and Admiral. Streckfus Steamers officially ended when NO Steamboat bought the President in 1980....Streckfus was to excursion boating as Greene and Leyhe were to overnight boating.
13/10/2006 3:30 pm
I'm not sure about the 1980 date, because officially or unofficially, the Streckfus name was still being used in St. Louis until the late 1980s, when everything was officially changed to Gateway Riverboat Cruises. I confirmed this with a former assistant to the legendary Capt Bill Carroll. They operated the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (now Spirit of Jefferson) diesel riverboats, and the President when it began summering in STL in 1985. Of course, 1980 is practically the demise of the grand old company, since the last converted steamboat left the corporate family. And, we all remember that the sad recent history of the Admiral began with it's closing just months earlier.
Topic starter
13/10/2006 7:49 pm
They may have operated the Prez in '85, but it was owned by NOSteamboat then.
13/10/2006 8:48 pm
Yes, I am just talking about operations. The owners of all the boats in question were either John Connelly or the NO Steamboat/St. Louis President Associates group. At some point, probably when the official name change occurred, Connelly took over ownership of the President, and eventually sent it on it's downward spiral through the gambling circuit before it's retirement.