"St. Johns" on the Potomac River - 1910" by Paul McGehee. Here, quoted from the original brochure of the Colonial Beach Company promoting this famous Potomac River steamboat: "Steamer "St. Johns" - The Largest and Handsomest Excursion Steamer on the Potomac River; Capacity, Twenty-five Hundred. Large Cafe, Excellent Cuisine, Music and Dancing. The Potomac River is one of the most historic and beautiful in the world. It has not the grandeur of the Hudson or the St. Lawrence, but in its forest-crowned hills, mirrored in the placid bosom of the water, nature has painted a picture that is not soon forgotten. It is restful. Tradition says that nearly three centuries ago Capt. John Smith and his adventurous companions in a small boat came up the Potomac to its navigable length, and Captain Smith, in his story of the trip, speaks of the wonderful beauty of the stream and of its being full of fish of all kinds. The fish were so plentiful that the men in the boats would strike them with the oars in rowing and could pick them up as they swam past the boats. The four-and-a-half hour sail on the big steamer "St. Johns," one of the handsomest steamboats in excursion service in the South, offers a most pleasant way to view the Potomac by daylight. Leaving her wharf here daily at 9:00 AM, except Monday and Saturday, the steamer, after a short stop at Alexandria, makes no more stops till she reaches the summer-time mecca of the people of Washington - Colonial Beach. Immediately after leaving the wharf at Washington the steamer passes Washington Barracks Park on the left. This is now the headquarters of the U. S. Army Engineers Corps, and the big brick building standing alone on the point is the Army War College. Then the Firth-Sterling steel plant is passed. Here are made the shells used in the guns on our war ships. A short distance above Alexandria, but on the opposite side of the river, can be seen the new alms and work house of the District of Columbia. Alexandria is next reached, and is one of the oldest towns in Virginia and is historical. Here George Washington spent his business hours, and the early history of the first President is closely interwoven with that of the old city. After leaving Alexandria the steamer passes Fort Foote, a civil-war defense of Washington; Fort Washington and Fort Hunt, modern defenses of Washington, on opposite sides of the river (the old stone fort at Fort Washington dates back to Revolutionary times); and Bryan's Point, where the Fish Commission propagating station is located. Mount Vernon is next seen on the green hills of the Virginia shore on the right. Marshall Hall, a colonial residence, is then passed, and, after sailing under the high hills of the White House, where in the war of 1812 home guards from Alexandria with one gun held in check a British fleet for several days. Gunston, the home of George Mason, author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, can be seen on the high hills overlooking Pohick Creek, on the left side of the river. In the early days of the colonies this section of Maryland and Virginia was the favorite abiding place of the Dogue, the Piscataway, the Pomonkey, and other Indian tribes, who came there for the fish in the river and the game in the forests. To this day traces of the original inhabitants of the country are often found along the river banks. Passing Gunston, the steamer sails on by Glymont, an old Maryland settlement; Indian Head, where the naval powder factory is located and where the big guns and armor plate of our war ships are tested, and on down past Liverpool Point, Maryland Point, Riverside, and many other spots that date back to colonial times, until Colonial Beach is reached about 1:30 PM. In addition to the morning trips, the St. Johns leaves Washington Saturday at 2:30 PM, giving an opportunity to spend Sunday at Colonial Beach." This scene depicts the "St. Johns" on a sunny summer afternoon in 1910. George Washington's estate Mount Vernon can be seen on the Virginia shore in the distance. "St. Johns" on the Potomac River - 1910" is faithfully reproduced as an archival-quality print from McGehee's original oil painting, each hand-signed by the artist. Edition size 500 S/N. Print image size: 6 3/4" x 10". (Final shipping cost on this small print may indeed be less than actually displayed upon purchase, depending upon destination and weight.)