Martha H. Greene

I would assume it is the Towboat Martha E. Greene, last owned by the Greene Sand & Gravel Co. at Louisville. This is the 1st. J. L Beatty and before that the COE boat J.B Battle. I would much like to know where some of the "old girl" is.

The MARTHA E. GREENE was still operating as a towboat here in the Louisville area in the late 1960's for the R.W. Greene Jr. Sand and Gravel Company. Later, Mr. Greene decided to turn her into a dredge and that's when her sternwheel was removed and still resides on the bank in the vicinity of the Louisville Water Company. I have her starboard running light which Mr. Greene gave me at the time of the conversion. She sank near the Second Street bridge and was scrapped. I have pictures of her and will see what I can dredge up!

Martha H. Green

Thanks very much for the information, it was extremely helpful! I would love to see a photo if you could dig it up. I have posted a photo from google maps below and also a small photo of a dedication sign at the site, it reads on the sign “Martha H. Greene”, I guess it is a misprint or something. Thanks again for the information, if anyone else knows anything more about this vessel, let me know!

Here are the directions to see the Paddlewheel sometime if you are in Louisville, KY and are just mulling around the river. It is worth a few minutes of your time.

Paddlewheel location: Rivergreen Cl. (off River Rd.) Louisville, KY 40206

Best way to get there: from Zorn Ave: Go to the end of Zorn Ave. where River Road intersects (You will be looking directly at the water tower). Make a left (going into the city) and River Green CL. will be a 1/16 of a mile on your right (you will pass Marine Sales and Service, a sand/gravel company and River Green Cl. is just past an office complex on a small hill, right hand side).When you turn on to River Green Cl. go straight and follow the curve in the road and you will see the paddlewheel directly in front of you.

Here is a street view map from google maps, just click on the white arrows, follow the curve in the road and you will find it:
River Green Cl - Google Maps
Marth E Green Paddlewheel From Google Maps

Dave: A cursory search through my files brought these photos, both here at Louisville, to the surface. The first image, courtesy of Dan Owen, was taken on November 12, 1961. The second view I snapped from the purser's office window on the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE in August, 1973 after the boat had been converted to dredge use. The VA Hospital on Zorn Avenue is in the distance, so it gives an idea as to location. I think that I have photos of the MARTHA in her earlier days as the J.B. BATTLE and will keep looking. Her statistics should be in the Inland River Record. Stay tuned!

I believe the MARTHA E. GREENE was actually converted to a dredge in the early '60's because when I started on the BELLE in '63 she was not running in the sand trade. The GREENE was diesel electric with the wheel powered by a huge DC electric motor. She had pitmans just like a steamboat.

Okay, here's one for Alan, Bill Judd or anyone else that may know: when did boats begin using electric ranges on a regular basis? In Keith's first picture of the MARTHA GREENE, I see two big bottles of what I assume are propane fuel, assuming again these are for the stove in the galley. This is not the first picture I have seen with propane bottles on a boat. When did these stoves fall out of fashion, and why did boats not use electric ranges until well after the advent of electricity on boats? Does it have to do with direct vs. alternating current?

I first saw the MARTHA in 1968. My dad and I watched her come down through the Louisville harbor at dusk past the Belle's landing with a couple of sand barges. We followed her on down to McAlpine and watched her go through the lock. It was dark by then and we couldn't see a nameboard, so I asked the lockmaster and he told me she was the MARTHA E. GREENE. Seeing that she had pitmans, I thought she might be a steamboat! In those days of my youth when I was "rabid with river fever", I kept a log of all the towboats, etc. I saw pass by. Last night I dug out that log book and there was the entry! It was during the summer of 1970 that Mr. Greene gave me the old starboard running light.

The boat's name was Martha E. Greene.

The Coast Guard takes a very dim view of propane on boats. It must have been around 1970 when they cracked down on its use, but that is a guess.

The mighty M/V Paul B. had a propane refrigerator that gave much trouble. Repairmen went frantic trying to make it work. Somebody noticed that when a heavy suction hose was carried on the guard the refrigerator would quit. That led to placing the hose in a "U" around the front of the cabin to level the boat. That ended the problem.

Martha E. Green

Thanks for the additional information and for putting a face to the paddlewheel! Thank you to Keith for the photos, what a treat! The photo of Martha converted to a dredge would explain the current location of the wheel. I much appreciate all of the info, recollections, name corrections and photos. See you on the river!

In the Dream Time

Didn't The MEG tie up about where the DQ landed (4th Street) during the transition period between the old cobblestone grade and that concrete mass they have these days? I recall a paddlewheel sand & gravel boat alongside us on many occasions. And I can recall an old, but very pleasing, shade of green(e) paint on wooden boards. I think. But, that was in my own Dream Time as so much of what I believe I remember is becoming.

Yeah, Shipyard,

I believe the Marha E. Greene did do some work around the landing, scraping mud, delivering materials and handling equipment. She quit somewhere between 1966 and 1970. She's gone from the IRR in 1972.

Greene Sand and Gravel was located just above the Second St. (Clark Memorial) bridge about where the the DQ lands today. Greene later moved his operation up river to where Louisiana Dock (ACBL shop barges) is today. I believe the building of I64 displaced Greene and that is why he moved up river, that would have been in the mid-60's.
As I remember things, and like Shipyard Sam those were Dream Times and now a little hazy, once Greene bought the old DUCTILITE and renamed it JENNIE C. GREENE in 1959 the MARTHA GREENE was mostly idle.

I dug out the INLAND RIVER RECORD for 1969 and here are the stats for the MARTHA E. GREENE. Diesel towboat, steel hull, sternwheel. Built at Charleston, WV by Ward, 1924. 100' x 23'. C-B FS8 diesel, placed in 1957, 400 hp. Diesel-electric drive. Originally named J.B. BATTLE, then owned by the U.S. Engineers, Mobile, later in Louisville District. Sold in 1947 to Capt. Selby Turner, Madison, Indiana. Later sold to Capt. John L. Beatty and renamed J.L. BEATTY. Sold in 1951 to R.W. Greene, Jr., Sand and Gravel Company.

Somewhere I have a picture of a towboat race in the Louisville harbor. I'm not sure, but it seems it was between the MARTHA and another towboat named the HARVEY. I'll have to keep excavating in my filing cabinets!

I remember when the towboat J.H. DUFFY used to be fitted with a scraper and, after a period of high water, would scrape the mud, driftwood and junk off the cobblestone wharf and let it float it on down to become somebody else's problem!

Shipyard: Your memory is correct. I found two color slides of the MARTHA, taken by Capt. C.W. Stoll in 1957, and she DID have a pleasing shade of green on her superstructure - and PLENTY of it!

Just So It's Green(e)

Love to see those slides just to prove to myself to see if my mind's eye has retained the imagine I imagined.

The GUY I also sported a pleasing, and similar, moss green coloration. Maybe it really was moss, and the crew cut down on their painting chores by allowing nature's paint brush do their handy work. Or do I favor the color green(e) owing to my own Greene Line days?

And see them you shall! A future program at the museum will be a "Riverlodeon" of Capt. C.W.'s slides. Stay tuned!

Martha E. Greene

Thanks for all the info on the Martha E. Greene. My Grandfather, Stephen Martin Wood, was the captian and pilot on her during the 50's. On my next trip to Louisville, I will most interested to see the old paddlewheel if it is still there.