Welcome to the Julia Belle Swain

Boarding the Mississippi River steamer Julia Belle Swain is like stepping back in time. The Julia Belle Swain was built in 1971 in Dubuque, Iowa, and is one of only 5 authentic steam-powered passenger vessels still in operation on the Mississippi River system. Her steam propulsion system with authentic vintage reciprocating engines was built in 1915 and originally installed in the ferryboat City of Baton Rouge. Manufactured by Gillett & Eaton of Lake City, MN, these engines are rated at 200 hp. each. Every 5-foot stroke of the pistons delivers power to the huge 21 ft. paddlewheel by way of original Pitman arms and paddlewheel crank assemblies. These engines have now logged well over one million miles. A licensed steam engineer is on-duty at all times, and is in constant communication with the pilot.
In styling and design, the Julia Belle Swain is considered the finest example of the Western Rivers sternwheel packets that operated regularly on the Upper Mississippi River over 130 years ago. It has an open main deck in keeping with traditional steamboat design; in the 1800s this area would have been used to transport all manner of bulk cargo, from cotton to lumber, livestock to dry goods. The second deck features an ornately-appointed dining salon serving full sit-down meals and buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Other authentic features include an open-air pilothouse with impressive 7 ft. diameter antique teakwood pilotwheel, 2 forward boarding stages, and towering twin ("Mississippi-style") chimneys. In addition, it has an operating steam calliope with antique keyboard, plus a hand-carved wooden back bar. Its graceful riverboat sheer and tiered "wedding cake" design, with its abundance of gingerbread trim and fine filigree work, make the Julia Belle Swain a unique vessel with an above-average passenger appeal, popular with steamboat aficionados and the general public alike. It has been featured in several major motion pictures including "Life on the Mississippi," "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," and the IMAX feature "Mark Twain’s America."		The Julia Belle Swain under construction at the Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works yard in 1970, followed by its launching in 1971 (below).

Steamboats on the Mississippi River Featuring the Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works The Mississippi River system has been a corridor of commerce for over 200 years. With the invention of the steam engine, flatboats and keelboats gave way to the newly-designed steamboat, with its ability to go upstream as well as down. Thousands of steamboats operated on America’s inland rivers, carrying passengers and cargo to various settlements and communities. By the mid-1800s, boat-builders and yards were established in all major river towns along the Upper Mississippi River, one of the most prominent being The Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works of Dubuque, Iowa. The Dubuque yard built some of finest and most famous steamboats to operate on the river. (Photos courtesy of Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.) This shot of the Dubuque ice harbor soon after the turn of the century shows the Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works yard with the Albatross under construction at left. In the distance are the steamers Quincy (left) and St. Paul (right).	The "first" Julia Belle Swain, built in 1913, ran for many years on the Illinois, Ohio, and Monongahela rivers. (Photo courtesy of Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse) The Julia Belle Swain is the second boat to carry the name. The first operated from 1913-1931, first in Florida, and later on the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio and Monongahela rivers. The original was named after Julia Belle [Swain] Shelton, granddaughter of David Swain, the founder of the D.M. Swain Co. of Stillwater, MN. The Swains were noted boat builders since soon after the Civil War, designing and building many distinctive steamboats that ran mainly on the Upper Mississippi, St. Croix and Illinois rivers. They also manufactured very efficient steam engines of their own design for many of their boats. Julia Belle Swain was the childhood sweetheart of the banker who financed the loan for the construction of the later Julia Belle Swain in 1970, and she was in Dubuque in 1971 to christen the second boat to be named in her honor. Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works of Dubuque, Iowa, builders of the Julia Belle Swain, began as the Iowa Iron Works in 1851, building its first steamboat, the Clyde, in 1870. Over its long history, The Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works built some of the finest and most famous steamboats on the river, including the luxurious Quincy (J.S. "Deluxe"), 1896, the legendary Betsy Ann, 1899, the Sprague, 1902 (largest steam sternwheel towboat ever built), and the gigantic railroad transfer boat Albatross, 1907 (now the excursion/gambling boat Admiral in St. Louis). In the 1960s, the Boiler Works turned their efforts toward the construction of smaller, steel-hulled excursion boats, economical and plain in design, as the market of the time dictated. The Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works ended operations in 1972, but not before "reaching back in time" to build the treasure that is the Julia Belle Swain, its specifications and design an honorable salute to its predecessors from the previous century. The Julia Belle Swain was the last boat the Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works ever built. Country singer/songwriter John Hartford ("Gentle On My Mind") made the Julia Belle Swain a minor celebrity in the 1970s as he immortalized the boat in several of his numerous songs about the river. Hartford himself had begun working on the river at a young age, obtaining his pilot’s license, and working on his favorite boat, the Julia Belle Swain. Even as he began recording and appearing regularly on "The Glen Campbell Show," "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" and "Hee Haw," he continued to pilot the Julia Belle Swain when his schedule permitted.