Carol Fisher-Linn
Our Chautauqua Belle is one of only five operating authentic passenger sternwheel steamboats left in North America today.
The steamer Chautauqua Belle is an authentic Mississippi River-style sternwheel steamboat, with the notable, historic sound of her steam whistle that can be heard across Chautauqua Lake. Only one of five operating steamboats left in North America, the Belle’s classic Steamboat lines, lofty stacks and gingerbread latticework have been featured in pictures all over the world.
Today, it is owned and operated by Mat and Jenna Stage as The Chautauqua Belle/U.S. Steam Lines Ltd, operating on Chautauqua Lake in Western New York. Built between 1974 and 1976, her maiden voyage was on July 4th, 1976, in time to celebrate America’s Bicentennial. Belle was originally constructed on site in Mayville NY, where she will once again call home base once her dock rebuild is completed. Except for a pause where she stood idle for a few years, she ended up in the capable, eager hands of an 18 year-old Mat Stage who, with help from his dad Paul, and granddad Del, revived her and put her back in her rightful place on Lake Chautauqua. Throughout the multi-year effort, the goal was to bring Belle back to her original state and what makes visitors feel like they are taking a trip back in time on this floating museum is the historical tour Stage created based on Chautauqua Lake in the late 1800’s. That project behind him, the younger Stage then went on to graduate from Maritime College and then on to presently serve as official ship’s Third Mate with an unlimited license to sail anywhere in the world, commanding the bridge, steering the ship, monitoring traffic and plotting courses. Currently, Stage sails with the Norwegian Cruise Line – Pride of America in Hawaii. When he’s not on the Pride of America he is steering the Belle. With those creds, visitors can rest assured they are in the best of hands.
With only one of five of these historic boats still running the waters in North America today a visit needs to go on your Bucket List. Google gives us this information about steamboats: “During the steamboat’s heyday (mid to 19th Century) there were over 1000 steamboats navigating the Mississippi River and its tributaries at any given time.” Some speculate there were as many as 1200 running simultaneously. And now there are five. Those of us who recently saw the “Big Boy” WWII B&O train did not regret making the effort to witness her up close. With the undisputed “Queen of the River” in our region, 1.5 hours from Buffalo, 1 hour from Ellicottville and closer yet to our Jamestown neighbors, who doesn’t want to listen to the sound of the steam whistle and the rhythmic watery splash of the paddle wheel as you enjoy the sights of gorgeous Chautauqua Lake? (It’s a toss-up between summer sunsets, or fall colors – hmm, maybe do both.) Almost 100 feet long, which is equal to the size of a regulation NBA basketball court or a Boeing 727-100 commercial jet and 22 feet wide, the width being equal to the length of a standard city bus, Belle is no everyday tour boat (Miss Buffalo tour boat is 65 feet long).
During the summer months, the vessel operates out of Maple Springs and the Chautauqua Institution. Institution visitors can board the 1.5 to 1.75 hour round trip from the Miller Bell Tower Dock on the Institution grounds. Visitors can also board from family-owned Maple Springs Lakeside B&B, 4696 Chautauqua Ave., Bemus Point, which offers ample parking and a beautiful historic building to stay in if one so wishes. During May, June, September, and October, the boat is docked at Jamestown’s McCrea Point Park to offer trips on the Chadakoin River. For more information on days and times that the Chautauqua Belle will be running (7 days a week, weather and private scheduling permitting), visit the company’s website at 269belle.com or email thechautauquabelle@gmail.com.
For more history on these Mississippi riverboats, go to Hudson River Maritime Museum’s history blog, 9/22/23, Evolution of Craft from the Raft to the Steamboat on the Mississippi River (from NYTimes, reprinted from New Orleans Time-Picayune 8/4/1891).