Belle of Louisville's offices are aboard Mayor Andrew Broaddus, and also appears on the list of National Historic Landmarks.

[2] Over the next few years, Avalon visited ports all along the Mississippi, Missouri, St. Croix, Illinois, Kanawha, Ohio, and Cumberland Rivers.

[citation needed] While river technology played an integral role in Louisville during the early 19th century, that relationship declined as railways and roads began to dominate the riverfront.

Then, in 1962 Jefferson County Judge Marlow Cook purchased the steamboat for $34,000 in hopes of reconnecting the city's people to the waterfront.

[2] The steamboat's purchase played a crucial role in restoring Waterfront Park along with Louisville's relationship to the Ohio River.

What remained was cleaned, surface prepared, supplied with new finish carpentry, and painted in a style consistent with the boat's early 20th-century origins.

He had salvaged the brass nameplates from the ends of the two massive cylinders in order to prevent them from being sold for scrap, and now he returned them to the boat.

Hawley had also, before the auction, at his own cost hired an assistant to drain the boat's water-filled fittings for winter, so that they would not freeze and burst.

Various of her workings, though not her engine and drive train, had been stripped and sold in separate lots at auction, including the boat's original steam calliope.

Some of them, such as brass steam-powered bilge clearing pumps known as siphons, were cannibalized from sunken steamboats whose hulls could still be seen and dived at low water.

Although the music festival takes place in mid-July in Waterfront Park during the day carrying over into the late evening, Belle of Louisville acts as the venue for the after shows and parties that are specifically for Forecastle VIP ticket holders.

Due to the swift actions of the steamer's crew and other members of the community, the boat was rescued, repaired, and returned to service.

In February 2007, Mark Doty was named as Belle of Louisville's captain, replacing Kevin Mullen, who left the position in November 2006.