March 1, 2021 By Keith Norrington
Nearly a century ago, the automobile was coming into vogue as a common means of transportation for the American people. When cars were made affordable thanks to mass production, the economic effects for the United States were astounding.
Before paved roads were plentiful, delivery of cars from factories was done largely by railroad and riverboat. Lee Line Steamers of Memphis often delivered autos to purchasers via its packet boats, and the famed towboat Sprague regularly towed barges laden with as many as 300 automobiles aboard.
This practice abated in the 1920s, but resumed following the Great Depression when Greene Line Steamers removed the passenger staterooms from their packet steamers Tom Greene and Chris Greene to handle auto deliveries between Cincinnati and Louisville until 1947.