Donald Birmingham (Towboat, 1929-1936)

Summary

• BOAT DESCRIPTION: Sternwheel
• BOAT TYPE: Towboat
• BUILT: 1913: Mamie Barrett, Levanna, Ohio; later: Duquesne, Carnegie Steel
• FORMERLY: Mamie Barrett and Duquesne
• BECAME: Katie Lyons, November 1936
• OWNERS: 1929: Elsey Transportation Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; MacQuown River Transportation Company; Captain A.C. Lyons, Pittsburgh
• OFFICERS & CREW: 1929: Captain Phil C. Elsey
• RIVERS: Mississippi River; MacQuown River; Ohio River
• OTHER INFORMATION: Ways - T0620; The Donald Birmingham was originally Mamie Barrett, 1913, then later the Duquesne. In 1929 she was named for a banker in Glenwood, Pennsylvania. One of her first jobs (May-June 1929) was to tow a fleet of new barges to Keokuk, Iowa for the USE. This enterprise was short lived due to the depression. The MacQuown River Transportation Company acquired the Donald Birmingham and took her to Madison, Indiana for extensive repairs; she was hauled out on the marine ways in Madison an remained for two years. Captain A.C. Lyons of Pittsburgh bought her in November, 1936, completed the work and renamed her Katie Lyons