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The Million Dollar Mile Former river baron Howard Brent would like to see a return to the days when Greenville towboats ruled the Mississippi River. nce, it was The Million Dollar Mile, a stretch of Greenville waterfront bristling with towboats, barges and shipbuilders. It provided work for thousands of big, rawboned Delta boys. It shipped enough grain and chemicals and steel to make Greenville the Towboat Capital of the World. Then it disappeared, chased away by the likes of NAFTA and
a grain embargo and fuel taxes and economic trends far beyond anyone’s control.
BY MARIANNA BRELAND
MARI AN N A BREL AN D
The port once produced dozens of towboats and now, boats are once again under construction.
6 8 • W H AT E V ER H A P PE N ED TO M A I N ST R EE T ?
It became one more tragedy in a series of events that led to the deterioration of Greenville. But now, something may be stirring at the new Port of Greenville, relocated south of town a few years ago. Not so very long ago, a visit to the shipyards of Greenville yielded a ghostlike civilization of abandoned propellers, rudders, and men, jobless, from the decline of the towing industry. But now, business has picked up. “We’re picking up steam,” says Port Director Tommie Hart, surveying his domain. Barges are being loaded. Towboats are pulling in and out. And now a new ship is being built. To Hart, the ship being put together in the Mississippi Marine shipyard is not just a new tow, but a sign of new life. Like the metamorphosis of a butterfly, the towing industry may be about to break through the rough, ugly cocoon of the last 30 years. Last year, the Port of Greenville filled up 300 railway cars for shipment on the big river. This year, the port filled up 300 railway cars in February
