The Showboat Dixiana that sank in Michigan City was said to be an exact replica of this showboat of the same name that toured the Mississippi and Ohio. This photo is from the website wiki.cincinnatilibrary.org. Click on photo to enlarge.

The Showboat Dixiana that sank in Michigan City was said to be an exact replica of this showboat of the same name that toured the Mississippi and Ohio. This photo is from the website wiki.cincinnatilibrary.org. Click on photo to enlarge.

   “Misfortune and disaster seem to cling to the Showboat Dixiana, once the pride of the Chicago World’s Fair, later an unwelcome guest in the local (Michigan City) harbor,” reported a local newspaper in the 1930s.fern

   The Dixiana was first scheduled to appear in Chicago in late 1932, escorted by two tugboats. It was an exact reproduction of a Mississippi-Ohio packet and contained a theater seating of 1,040, a buffet, sleeping quarters for members of the troupe, and a private dining room where the captain could entertain the city fathers and other dignitaries. It was predicted to become a legend of the Chicago theatrical district.

   In 1933, the showboat took a trial cruise, giving performances in Sturgeon Bay, Green Bay and Port Washington, Wisconsin. In February 1934, it was pushed to a private docking place adjacent to the Diversey Parkway Bridge in Chicago. Charges had been dismissed regarding failure to have a license, but a license to a floating theater and cafe was still required. After about two years of being “adrift in perilous waters of showboat trouble,” it finally opened. But by the end of 1935, the Great Lake Showboat Corporation, owner and operator of the Dixiana, filed for bankruptcy and went into receivership by December.

   In May 1937, the Dixiana was dedicated to a cruise of the Great Lakes with cast and crew of the production “Tobacco Road” aboard.

But …

   Mayor Kelly of Chicago, after seeing the play, termed it “a mass of outrageous obscenity” and banned it from the Windy City. The play was closed by order of the mayor. So the show took to the water. The first engagement of “Tobacco Road” aboard the showboat was scheduled for Michigan City on Friday night, May 28, 1937.

   The showboat was to be moved from the Diversey Parkway location in Chicago to Navy Pier in the same city on Monday, May 24, then towed to Michigan City on Tuesday the 25th.

But …
     “Buffeted by wind and wave on its lake journey, the Showboat Dixiana held together long enough to get from the Chicago River to the harbor in Michigan City, Ind.,” the press reported. “Then, after it was tied up at the dock and the two towing tugs prepared to return to Chicago, the showboat’s seams opened and it listed over on its side. The Dixiana was there, half submerged, last night as owners sought a way to raise the craft. They said they would have to postpone the scheduled opening Friday night of ‘Tobacco Road,’ the play banned in Chicago by Mayor Kelly.”

   It was announced that the boat would be raised immediately and naval architects would attempt to recondition it for a projected cruise of Great Lakes ports. The “Tobacco Road” company would be kept intact until the work was completed. The production was to reopen Friday, June 11.

But …
     On Sunday, July 4, 1937, the U.S. Naval Reserve boat Hawk accidentally rammed the Dixiana. The crash occurred when a control stuck on the Hawk, preventing it from changing course. The company of actors, after viewing the wrecked stage and scenery, left for New York.

   The show did, eventually, go on.

But …
     On Saturday, Sept. 11, 1937, the Dixiana, battered by the surge of the harbor waters, sank again in Michigan City. It had a gaping hole in its side, caused by ramming the docks in the heavy surge. The Dixiana finally appeared doomed to failure as park officials declared that they would not allow the boat to moor in the basin any longer.

   It was impossible to permanently repair the boat in the harbor. By November, the Dixiana was being dismantled further up in the Michigan City harbor. Its misfortune was still not over, though — one final blow occurred Nov. 27 when a seaman working on the boat slipped from the gangplank and drowned in the harbor.

   Thus, the final curtain finally fell on the doomed Showboat Dixiana!

FERN EDDY SCHULTZ is LaPorte County’s official Historian. Visit the LaPorte County Historical Society Museum, 2405 Indiana Ave., and its website, www.laportecountyhistory.org, to learn much more about LaPorte County’s history.