"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. |
