Docked on the riverfront at the end of Toulouse St, the Steamboat Natchez awaits your arrival.
You can take a narrated two hour tour of the Mississippi, and the steamboat itself. It highlights all
the important points of interest along the way. They served a wonderful New Orleans
style meal for lunch; Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, fresh Green Salad, and Bread Pudding
for dessert. Your choice of Ice Tea, Coffee or water.
The ninth and current Natchez, the Seamboat Natchez, is a sternwheel steamboat based
in New Orleans. Built in 1975, she is sometimes referred to as the Natchez IX. She is
operated by the New Orleans Steamboat Company and docks at the Toulouse Street
Wharf. Day trips include harbor and dinner cruises along the Mississippi River.
It is modeled not after the original Natchez, but instead by the steamboats Hudson and
Virginia. Its steam engines were originally built in 1925 for the steamboat Clairton, from
which the steering system also came. From the S.S. J.D. Ayres came its copper bell, made
of 250 melted silver dollars. The bell has on top a copper acorn that was once on the
Avalon, now known as the Belle of Louisville, and on the Delta Queen. It also features a
steam calliope that can play 32 notes. The wheel is made of white oak and steel, are 17
feet by 5 feet, and weigh over 25 tons. The whistle came from a ship that sank in 1908. It
is 265 feet long and 46 feet wide. It has a draft of six feet and weighs 1384 tons. It's
mostly made of steel.
In 1982 the Natchez won the great steamboat race, which is held every year on the Wednesday immediately before the first
Saturday in May, as part of the Kentucky Derby Festival held in Louisville,Kentucky. It has partaken in other races,
and has never lost Those it has beaten include the Belle of Louisville, the Delta Queen, and the Missippi Queen.
During the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the Natchez temporarily moved upriver toBaton Rouge Louisiana.
Since then, operations have returned to New Orleans.
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