Presenting a location from the Database and one which started this whole series, I give you the L Wade Childress. Yep, surprisingly it's still around after 10 years.
IMG_9085 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
The L Wade Childress was a pushboat commissioned in 1948 to propel barges laden with goods and raw materials down the Mississippi River. In the winter of 1985 she was tied up at dock as she was every year when the river froze to await spring.
IMG_8982 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
But that year the ice formed
earlier and thicker than expected, catching barge companies unaware and trapping or stranding an untold number of vessels in the ice. The L Wade Childress was one such vessel, repeatedly battered by large chunks of floating river ice until she sank on December 12, 1985.
IMG_8965 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
She was raised on March 25, 1986 and from there her trail goes cold- but we can speculate. Around 1980 a massive drop in American grain exports due to a sharp rise in the value of the American dollar caused commodities shipments along the Mississippi to drop by 28% based off the numbers reported by the Rock Island District of the US Army Corp of Engineers. This resulted in the closing or merging of hundreds of barge companies and even those that survived felt the financial pinch.
IMG_8959 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
From this it can be inferred that the L Wade Childress was likely beached at her current location in 1986 since it wasn't economically feasible to bring her back into service at that time. Perhaps her owners were waiting for a time when the market was better, or perhaps they merely intended to send her to the shipbreakers for salvage. It's also entirely possible the company that owned her became a victim of bankruptcy or corporate mergers and she was lost in the shuffle.
IMG_8970 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
Either way, nothing was ever done with her and she sits at her resting place to this day. Also check out the pilothouse.
IMG_8978 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
They went through the effort to raise her from the river bottom only to leave her to rot for decades on shore. Talk about a waste of time and money. All they accomplished was making it easier for urban explorers to access her.
IMG_8970 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
IMG_8942 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
And as a bonus photo, I found this wrecked private yacht on the way out of town. It wasn't worth a full post of its own but it was still interesting.
IMG_9101 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
