The Belle of Louisville
photo taken from steamboats.org
The Belle of Louisville is a paddle-wheel steamboat that is currently docked alongside the Ohio River. This steamboat was originally built in 1914, where it was called the Idlewild. It was renamed in 1948 as the Avalon, and then in 1962 it was purchased by the city of Louisville and renamed the Belle of Louisville. Over the many years of it existence, the boat has gained a reputation of being haunted, in particular by the people who have spent a lot of time working there. According to reports, there have been several deaths on the site, including that of one of the captains.
Captain Ben Winters had a heart attack in the wheel house, and died soon after in the captain’s quarters. Workers have also died in both the engine room and by the paddle-wheel. One of these men was crushed to death when a piece of machinery was turned on by accident, and the other man was killed while conducting maintenance on the paddle-wheel because it went into motion. Ghostly activity has been known to occur in these areas, primarily in the morning hours when just the workers are around. When new people begin working on the Belle of Louisville, they are told that they may potentially experience paranormal activity.
If they do, they are allowed to talk about it amongst themselves, but no official record can be released due to fear of scaring people away. Due to this policy, no official record of a haunting has ever been released to the public. One former employee reported that one night he was in his office doing some paperwork when he had the feeling that he was being watched. He looked to put some papers in a file, and when he looked back he was staring at Captain Ben Winters straight in the face. Several seconds later, the apparition vanished, yet he could not take his eyes off of him while it lasted because he was paralyzed by fear. This is one of a few reports of people seeing the old Captain.
(Source: Belanger, Jeff. Encyclopedia of Haunted Places. 2005.)
