Choptank River Trip - Joppa Overnight Run

Joppa was purchased by Alwynn Wootten of Salisbury for the Victor Lynn Transportation Line in 1930 for $1,500.  In 1934 she was rebuilt as a diesel freighter and rechristened the City of Salisbury. As a freighter, she resumed her career of service to Baltimore and other commercial centers for a few more years.

Victor Lynn Transportation Company went bankrupt in 1939.  City of Salisbury was sold on December
31, 1941, to the U. S. Navigation Company, a New York Corporation, for $120,000. In 1945 she was sold to the United States Navy.  She was renamed the USS Colonel Henry R. Casey in 1947 and used as a mine layer. In 1950 or 1955 (date uncertain), she was sold to Mexican interests. 

Avalon was sold to Captain George W. Brown and from 1929 carried black excursionists to Brown’s Grove, an amusement park on Rock Creek near Baltimore. In 1937 she was renamed Federal Hill and continued a few more years as a charter boat.  In 1941, her superstructure was cut down to serve as a lumber barge.

Take an Imaginary 1880s Trip to Baltimore
See the Choptank from the Deck of your Steamer.