The City of Madison approved a resolution Tuesday to complete the purchase of eight parcels of property on the Madison riverfront for $10,000 less than the landâs appraised value.
The property, located along the north and south side of the 300 block of East Vaughn Drive, is owned and/or formerly operated by Madison Coal & Supply Company. It came available to the city several months ago when the owners contacted the city to gauge interest in buying the site located primarily at the corner of Jefferson Street and Vaughn Drive.
The land, unused by Madison Coal & Supply for several decades, is essentially an empty lot on the north side of Vaughn that has been used as storage by Madison Regatta and green space extending from the south side of Vaughn Drive to the Ohio River.
February 12, 2021 By Capt. David Smith
In 1923 the Nashville Bridge Company, Nashville, Tenn., launched a vessel that was a “first.” It was the sternwheel towboat Harvey, built for T.L. Herbert & Son. The boat was 93 by 26.8 feet with a hull depth of 4.3 feet. It had a steel hull with a cabin built entirely of wood.
The Harvey’s immediate claim to fame was the means of power. According to Capt. Fred Way in the 1951 edition of the
Inland River Record, the boat had the first installation of fully diesel engines on the inland rivers. These were Worthington engines developing a total of 240 hp. They were connected to twin sternwheels turned by gears.