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Mural of towboat Sprague unveiled Friday at City Front
Click image to enlarge
[03/24/07]
By Nate Delesline III
The Sprague, the largest and most powerful sternwheel towboat ever launched, returned to City Front Friday.
Although the actual boat is long gone, its image now joins 19 other murals at Vicksburg's riverfront.
The 14- by 24-foot painting, which shows the Sprague backed by a sunset, was unveiled by the Vicksburg Riverfront Mural Committee in before about 70 people Friday.
The mural was painted by Robert Dafford Murals, based in Lafayette, La. The firm's staff includes Dafford, Herb Roe, Brett Chigoy and Chase Innes.
“We had a lot of fun doing it,” said Roe.
Mayor Laurence Leyens, who attended Friday's unveiling, compared the 318-foot-long Sprague to U.S. landmarks such as the St. Louis Arch and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
“Vicksburg's icon has always been the Sprague,” Leyens said.
The vessel, which served nearly 50 years on the Lower Mississippi River in various roles, was bought from a division of Standard Oil Co. by the City of Vicksburg for $1 and was moved to City Front in 1948.
Besides hauling barges up and down the river, the Sprague was used to rescue some 20,000 people from rooftops and trees during the Mississippi River flood of 1927. It also was a theater and the original home of “Gold in the Hills,” an 1890s melodrama first performed in 1936 on a stage built in the front part of the vessel's boiler room.
The boat remained in the Yazoo Diversion Canal, on display and open to tourists, until April 15, 1974, when a fire destroyed it. Soon after, community members formed “Save Our Ship,” a committee to restore the Sprague to its former glory. However, the group's efforts failed, and, in 1979, the boat was demolished and removed from the canal.
The Sprague mural, which cost $16,500, is the 20th in a series of historical floodwall paintings at City Front. It was purchased with a combination of funds remaining from the ”Save Our Ship” committee and donations from Dr. Walter Johnston Jr., Steve Golding and Vicksburg Factory Outlets.
The next floodwall mural is to be unveiled in April, said Nellie Caldwell, chairman of the Vicksburg Riverfront Mural Committee.
Although the actual boat is long gone, its image now joins 19 other murals at Vicksburg's riverfront.
The 14- by 24-foot painting, which shows the Sprague backed by a sunset, was unveiled by the Vicksburg Riverfront Mural Committee in before about 70 people Friday.
The mural was painted by Robert Dafford Murals, based in Lafayette, La. The firm's staff includes Dafford, Herb Roe, Brett Chigoy and Chase Innes.
“We had a lot of fun doing it,” said Roe.
Mayor Laurence Leyens, who attended Friday's unveiling, compared the 318-foot-long Sprague to U.S. landmarks such as the St. Louis Arch and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
“Vicksburg's icon has always been the Sprague,” Leyens said.
The vessel, which served nearly 50 years on the Lower Mississippi River in various roles, was bought from a division of Standard Oil Co. by the City of Vicksburg for $1 and was moved to City Front in 1948.
Besides hauling barges up and down the river, the Sprague was used to rescue some 20,000 people from rooftops and trees during the Mississippi River flood of 1927. It also was a theater and the original home of “Gold in the Hills,” an 1890s melodrama first performed in 1936 on a stage built in the front part of the vessel's boiler room.
The boat remained in the Yazoo Diversion Canal, on display and open to tourists, until April 15, 1974, when a fire destroyed it. Soon after, community members formed “Save Our Ship,” a committee to restore the Sprague to its former glory. However, the group's efforts failed, and, in 1979, the boat was demolished and removed from the canal.
The Sprague mural, which cost $16,500, is the 20th in a series of historical floodwall paintings at City Front. It was purchased with a combination of funds remaining from the ”Save Our Ship” committee and donations from Dr. Walter Johnston Jr., Steve Golding and Vicksburg Factory Outlets.
The next floodwall mural is to be unveiled in April, said Nellie Caldwell, chairman of the Vicksburg Riverfront Mural Committee.
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marciewalker wrote on Sep 30, 2008 9:01 AM: