Anchor Line Boats
Beginning in 1880, all newly-built Anchor Line Boats were side-wheelers, meaning they each had two large paddlewheels located on the starboard and port side of the boat, located about two-thirds of the way back from the prow. The lone exception was the Bluff City, which for some unknown reason was a stern-wheeler. Side-wheelers had proved to be faster than stern-wheelers, and more easy to maneuver.
| Boat Name | Year Built | Information known |
| Belle Memphis (I) | 1866 | Side-wheeler. Measured 260 ft (79 m) long x 40 ft (12 m) wide x 7 ft (2.1 m) depth (hull). Usually operated between St. Louis and Memphis. Dismantled in 1880, when its engines were probably used in the construction of the second Belle Memphis (see below). |
| James Howard | 1870 | Side-wheel packet built by Howard. A large boat, measuring 320 ft (98 m) long x 53 ft (16 m) wide x 10 ft (3.0 m) depth. The Howard was built for Capt. Rush Pegram and others for the St. Louis-New Orleans trade at a cost of $180,000 (approximately in 2005 $2,495,245). Stood for public inspection in Cincinnati on 21 January 1871, where an estimated 45,000 visitors boarded the boat. Bought from Pegram by the Anchor Line in 1878. The boat could carry 3,200 tons, as evidenced by the cargo she transported on one trip in January 1881. Burned at St. Louis on 13 March 1881, having just arrived from New Orleans with a huge cargo of sugar. All passengers and crew supposedly escaped safely. Known fondly by the nickname "Oil Cake Jim." |
| City of Vicksburg (I) | 1870 | Side-wheel packet built by Howard. 265 x 42 x 8. Commanded by Capt. Robert Riley. Sank on a snag at Ashport, Tennessee, 11 August 1880, while carrying a large cargo. |
| Belle Memphis (II) | 1880 | Slightly smaller than usual Anchor Line boat size, the second Memphis had dimensions of 267 x 42 x 7.5. her engines were not new, and probably used from the previous incarnation (see above). Ran her maiden voyage from St. Louis to Memphis in 1881, where she was presented with a piano and set of flags. Her first captain was Ike McKee, who, at age 64, was the oldest in the Anchor Line. Circa 1895, her pilot was Horace Bixby (1826 – 1912), who is featured in Mark Twain's writings. Damaged beyond repair by a snag in early September 1897 at Crane's Island, just south of Chester, Illinois. |
| City of Providence | 1880 | The longest-lived Anchor Line boat. Gambling on board was said by one source to be fixed against the players. Destroyed by ice in 1910, twelve years after the Anchor Line sold it to an excursion company. |
| City of Vicksburg (II) | 1881 | Typical size for Anchor Line boats. Sold in 1894 to an excursion company, which continued to operate it under the same name. Damaged in the 1896 St. Louis tornado. Sold again and rebuilt under the name Chalmette. Sank in 1904, probably after catching a snag. |
| City of Cairo | 1881 | Worked for the Anchor Line for fifteen years, until destroyed by the 1896 tornado. |
| City of Baton Rouge | 1881 | Dimensions: 294 ft (90 m) x 49 ft x 9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) Oddly, on her delivery from Howard, she stuck on rocks at the Falls of Louisville, Kentucky, where she remained for three weeks. Operated on the route from St. Louis to New Orleans, and was commanded by Horace Bixby for much of her career. Sank at Hermitage, Louisiana, at 3 PM on 12 December 1890, with the loss of two deck passengers. |
| City of New Orleans | 1881 | Dimensions: 290 ft (88 m) x 48 ft x 8.5 ft (2.6 m) Between 1885-91 her captain was A.J. Carter with Archie Woods, clerk. By 1896, A.S. Lightner had become captain, with J.W. Langlois as clerk. Brought under her own steam in May 1898 to Harmar, Ohio, where she was dismantled at the Knox Boat Yard, and much of her equipment used for the City of Pittsburg, which operated 1898-1902 before being lost to fire. |
| Arkansas City | 1882 | Operated by the Anchor Line continuously for fourteen years. First came as far south as Natchez in 1888, and after that principally worked a route between there and St. Louis. Demolished in the 1896 St. Louis tornado and never repaired. |
| Will S. Hayes | 1882 | Sold to the Anchor Line sometime after this date, though one source (the Gandys) report that it was actually built for the Anchor Line at that time. |
| City of St. Louis | 1883 | Measured 300 feet (91 m) long x 49 feet (15 m) wide x 8.6 feet (2.6 m) depth (hull). In 1894 she was commanded by Captain James O'Neal, with pilots Joe Bryan and Charlie O'Neal. In March 1898 she was bought at the U.S. marshal sale at St. Louis by Captain W.H. Thorgewan for $19,050 (about $422,0064 in 2005). Briefly owned afterwards by the Columbia Excursion Company, which sold the boat in July 1899 to James M. Grasty. By 1901 she was running harbor excursions in New Orleans, and U.S. President William McKinley rode on the boat in May. Grasty sold the boat in 1903 to the Greater New York Home Oil Company; however, a U.S. marshal took control of the boat and sold her to T. Marshall Miller, an attorney, for $3,125 (2005 $66,573). Laid up at Carondelet, Missouri, she burned there 29 October 1903. The original roof bell was sold by the Anchor Line to Captain J. Frank Ellison, and it was later installed on a boat known as the Queen City. |
| City of Bayou Sara | 1884 | Said to have been a larger-than-average Anchor Line boat, measuring 300 ft (91 m) x 48 ft x 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) Commanded by Captain Isaac Baker, her other officers included John E. Massengale, purser; Collin Baker, 2nd clerk; George Murray and Theodore Hall, pilots; and Tobe Royal, mate. Burned on 5 December 1885 while loading corn at New Madrid, Missouri. Eight people died in the fire. |
| City of Natchez | 1885 | Had dimensions of 300 ft (91 m) x 48 ft x 10 ft (3.0 m) Horace Bixby was her captain, with H.E. Corbyn as her clerk. Said by Frederick Way (below) to have been the "brag boat of the Anchor Line." Lost to a fire on 28 December 1886 at Cairo, Illinois, that broke out on the neighboring towboat R.S. Hayes. |
| City of Monroe | 1887 | Named for the Monroe, Louisiana on the Ouachita River, which was served only indirectly by the Anchor Line. Upon first arrival in Natchez in 1888, presented with piano and flags by a delegation from Monroe. Said to have been a popular boat. Damaged in the 1896 tornado in St. Louis. Rebuilt, extended by being cut down the middle, outfitted with electric lights, and renamed Hill City. Sold by the Anchor Line in 1898 to an excursion company. Sank in 1900, but raised later that year. Renamed again as the Corwin H. Spencer and took on passengers at the St. Louis World's Fair, though destroyed by fire near Jefferson Barracks on 12 October 1905. |
| City of Hickman | 1894? | Sank in 1896. |
| Bluff City | 1896 | Only stern-wheeler built by the Anchor Line. Burned a year after its construction. |
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—Eudora Welty (b. 1909)
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—Frank W. Wead (1895?–1947)