The Vienna was a 176-ton, 155-by-26-by-4.5-foot stern-wheeler built in 1898.

She was built specifically for the Columbus river trade by a stock company principally owned by Joseph Donoghue, W.B. Peebles and W.B. Hopkins. Capt. Sam A. Cosper was her master. She was built to run between Demopolis, Vienna, Pickensville and Columbus but also ran between Columbus and Mobile.

The first news account of the new Vienna arriving in Columbus was on Nov. 23, 1898. It was then reported the Vienna had arrived “from river points below bringing 180 bales of cotton and a few passengers.” The account further said that she “left yesterday for Ringold below Pickensville, to get a cargo of cotton and will return tonight, after which she will make a long trip to Demopolis.”

The Vienna’s major trade was in hauling cotton, cottonseed and fertilizer. During the summer months not only could the steamer not be fully loaded due to low water, but there was a pause in the shipment of cotton until the fall crop. Summer was the time for Tombigbee boats to be repaired and painted. Some boats also were available for charter and excursions.

Capt. Cosper lived on the Vienna, and when she was docked for repairs or because of low water, he was noted for allowing children to come on board the Vienna to play and explore the steamer.

It was usually in November that the water level of the Tombigbee at Columbus was sufficient for fully loaded steamboats to travel the river between Columbus and Mobile. The rule of thumb was that for large steamboats the Columbus gage needed to be at six feet (about the present Aliceville pool level at Columbus) and at two feet for smaller shallow draft steamboats. To make it to Aberdeen, steamboats except for small steamers in the lumber trade required 12 feet on the Columbus gage.   

On June 9, 1903, the Columbus First Baptist Church Sunday school chartered the Vienna for its annual picnic, which would be at Chowder Springs on the Tombigbee near Nashville Ferry. An announcement in the Columbus Weekly Dispatch read.

All Aboard For Chowder.

The annual picnic of the First Baptist Sunday school will be held at Chowder Springs down the river instead of “Melrose” on the line of the M. & O. Extension east of this city. The change was made necessary by the inability of the M. & O. railroad to furnish a train for the trip to “Melrose,” all their rolling stock being in use clearing up the congestion resulting from the strike.

The change is one that all the picnickers approve. The ride to and from Chowder on the Steamer ‘Vienna’ which has been chartered for the occasion will prove thoroughly enjoyable and Chowder is a charming place for an out-door gathering. Every possible precaution for the protection of the picnickers will be taken by the boat authorities, such as double gang planks with railings; railings all around the decks, etc. There is no danger, and the public generally can take advantage of the trip feeling secure. The fare for the round trip is adults 50 cts; children under 12, 25 cts.

The picnic was held and ”A merry party” of some 250 people enjoyed the day-long outing, which was described as “frolicking and feasting” in “shaded dells and green fields.” A photograph found by Don DePriest shows the Vienna at the old Columbus steamboat landing, which is now the Riverwalk parking lot. In the background is the old 1877 bridge located about where the new bridge to the Island crosses the river next to the 1928 bridge. The boat is about to set out on a summer excursion, which is probably that Sunday school picnic in 1903. The photo shows the Vienna both with railings along the deck and a wider than normal gangway. These were the two safety precautions taken by the boat for the picnic.

The Sunday school excursion was not the first excursion or picnic on the Vienna. In 1900 it was reported in the Pickens County Herald and West Alabamian that “H. L. Stone found a floating bottle in the Bigbee the other day containing three notes headed ‘Steamer Vienna’ supposed to have been written by some of the young ladies on the excursion some weeks ago. They stated in the notes for the finder to address them at box 227, Columbus, Miss., but Howard declines to do so.”

On Jan. 19, 1906, while headed up river to Columbus, the Vienna struck timber that had fallen into the river during repair work on the Columbus M&O Railroad trestle. The timber had floated downstream and became a snag, called a “dead head.” The Vienna, carrying 250 bales of cotton and 2,200 sacks of cotton seed, struck it and sank in four minutes at Moore’s Bluff near present-day Camp Pratt. All of the passengers and crew were saved, but the boat could not be salvaged. Soon after she sank much of the Vienna’s cargo was recovered and carried to Columbus by the Steamer Ouachita.

Other steamboats that were in the Columbus trade after the Vienna sank included the John Quill, the American, the James Hale and the Charles May. The Charles May in 1914 was the last steamboat to run on a regular schedule between Columbus and Mobile. Except for small steamers used in the lumber trade, commercial steamboat traffic at Columbus ended around 1920.

Thanks to Carolyn Kaye for helping with research on this column.

Rufus Ward is a local historian.

Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].

READER FAVORITES

• 

  Slimantics: Redistricting by another name is no less offensive

  By Slim Smith • 1 day ago

• 

  Our View: We don’t want to hear, ‘there’s nothing to do’

  By Dispatch Editorial Board • 1 day ago

• 

  Our View: At 250, America’s improbable birth still inspires

  By Dispatch Editorial Board • 1 hour ago