P-092 Mississippi Valley Barge Lines Photograph Collection

Collection of 70 photographic slides taken by Jack Carey while working as a deckhand for the Mississippi Valley Barge Lines in the summer of 1968. The photographs capture river scenes, as well as Mississippi Valley Barge Lines boats, operations, and crew. Mississippi Valley Barge Lines was a privately owned common carrier founded in St. Louis in 1929. The company ran steam, and later diesel, barges and towboats on the lower Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. In its formative years, a large part of the company’s earnings came from the transportation of sugar from New Orleans to Cincinnati and St. Louis. The photographs in this collection were taken in the summer of 1968. According to a statement by W.J. Barta, President of the company, at a 1965 congressional hearing, in 1964 the company transported approximately 8,878,000 tons of freight and received gross revenues of approximately 20,500,000. He claimed they were one of the largest carriers on the U.S. inland river system. He also stated they presently operated 18 towing vessels and over 500 cargo-carrying barges. Jack Carey was a prominent attorney in southern Illinois. As a youth, he worked as a deckhand for Mississippi Valley Barge Lines and took the photographs in this collection.

Herman T. Pott National Inland Waterways Library