The Historic Dixie

by Ray Balogh photos by Mike Deak

Leaving in its wake 108 years of tender loving care by its successive owners, the Dixie, Indiana’s oldest sternwheeler paddle boat, has set sail for its 2022 season of historical and twilight cruises around Webster Lake.

The current 76-foot vessel is The Dixie’s second incarnation. The first was built by 21-year-old steamboat pilot Joseph Breeck in 1914.

The Dixie’s chronology offers insight into its importance to the North Webster community:

• 1914. Breeck, who lives in a cottage on one of Lake Webster’s small islands, builds the first Dixie, a 65-foot wooden-hulled craft, which serves as a floating grocery store, blacksmith shop, and mail carrier for lake residents. It is powered by an 8-horsepower steam engine. • 1918. The steam engine is replaced with a 15-horsepower gasoline engine. • 1928-1929. With its wooden hull deteriorating beyond feasible repair, the Dixie is scavenged for salvageable parts, loaded with large field rocks, towed to Lake Webster’s deep waters and set on fire. The hull sinks to the bottom of the lake when the fire reaches the waterline. • 1929. Breeck orders a galvanized steel hull from St. Louis. The hull’s four sections are delivered by rail to

Leesburg and then by truck to North

Webster. The hull is assembled atop a specially constructed boat slip. The new ship is equipped with the original pilot wheel and three-chime exhaust whistle. The craft, known for years as the New Dixie, takes its maiden voyage. • 1935. The Dixie is powered by its new engine, taken from a 1928 Studebaker. • 1939. Breeck retires due to failing health and sells the Dixie to Jay

Knapp, who maintains the boat for 10 years with no significant changes. • 1949. Earl Ungeright purchases the

Dixie and upgrades the powertrain to diesel-electric, with a variable-speed 15-horsepower electric motor, which is still in use today. • 1950. The pilothouse atop the boat is moved forward 10 feet to enhance visibility. Ungeright installs a public address system to broadcast relaxing music from 45 rpm records. When the Dixie hit a big wave, the record would skip, adding some humor to the passengers’ remembrances.

The DIXIE hosts more than 13,000 passengers a year during its daily trips around the lake and special chartered events, such as weddings, birthday parties, family reunions, church outings, and field trips. The Dixie is wheelchair accessible. The Dixie runs public cruises at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday; 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 9 p.m. Saturday; and 2 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday, through Labor Day weekend. Tickets are $7 and cruises last approximately 75 minutes. For more information, call 1.888.80.DIXIE (34943) or visit ridethedixie.org.

• 1955. Local high school students stage the first of nine annual performances of “Showboat” on the Dixie’s City Street

Landing. • 1959. Ernest “Tag” Huffman purchases the Dixie and makes several practical improvements while respecting the boat’s historical significance and appearance. • 1963. The 2-inch-thick, repeatedly recoated tar and gravel coating on the upper deck is removed and replaced with fiberglass. The tar and gravel weighed several tons, and when the replacement was complete, the Dixie floated an inch higher in the water. • 1980. Huffman re-fiberglasses the bow and top deck with a new, improved, lighter material, which is still in use today. He also builds an enclosed countertop area for concessions. Later in the year, Huffman retires and sells the Dixie, having helmed the ship for 22 years. • 1981. Owner Walter Nellessen makes several structural changes to the ship, including enclosing the engine room area and adding fake smokestacks. • 1987. The Dixie is sold to Greg Van

Pelt, who sells it to Dan Thystrup in 1994. • 2007. Ownership of the Dixie is transferred to its current owner,

Dixie Sternwheeler Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which extensively renovates the ship from fall 2009 to spring 2010.

Improvements include new rudders, stairway, hull flooring, and pilothouse. • 2009. The Dixie is officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Sept. 24. A permanent marker at the pier commemorates the achievement.