Paducah town docks
Notice the height of the pilings. The whole dock can ride up on the pilings in high water.
The highlight of the day was our visit to the National Quilt Museum here in Paducah. The Quilt Museum was started by Bill and Meredith Schroeder of Paducah and opened to the public in 1991. It is the world's foremost museum devoted to quilts and fiber arts. The main gallery hosts a rotating selection of the museum's permanent collection of over 500 quilts. Its other two galleries show case rotating fiber art and quilt exhibits throughout the year. The museum also offers educational opportunities for adults and kids of all skill levels. Captain Keith and I took a guided tour which was really nice. The guide explained a lot about both the museum and gave details about some of the quilts and their designers. It was very interesting. Even Keith was in awe of these artists, and I am humbled.
This is all done with fabric and thread
The fine detail of the peacock's feathers is done with thread (called thread painting)
This is done on an all black fabric back round. The picture is made with thread painting and applique.
Close-up of a section of the above quilt
Pengi soaking in the beauty of the quilts
A close-up of the quilt Pengi is looking at. Amazing hand applique.
After being just amazed by the quilts at the museum, Keith and I went for lunch in town then to the River Discovery Center. This museum is located in the old Petter Building in downtown Paducah. The building was originally built in 1843 to house the newly formed Branch Bank of Louisville and is the oldest surviving antebellum building in Paducah's downtown. Over the years it has been a bank, hotel as well as a hardware and provision store. In 1995 it was sold to the City of Paducah and renovated to become their River Discovery Center. This museum documents the heritage and history of the river and Paducah. They have many exhibits about the steamboats of the river and some things about the environment of the river. One particularly interesting story was about the steamboat Sultana.
The Sultana was a stream boat operating during the mid 1800s. In April of 1865 she was hired to transport newly released Union prisoners of war from Vicksburg north to Memphis and their new lives. Sultana was designed for a capacity of 375 passengers, however due to several factors, she was loaded with 1,961 prisoners on April 24th of 1865. In addition, she was carrying crew and officers for a total of 2,155 people. Three days after leaving Vicksburg at 2:00 AM just 7 miles from Memphis on a swollen Mississippi, one of her boilers exploded and immediately after that her other three boilers blew up. Those who were not killed in the explosion had to fight for their lives in the cold, flooded river in the dark. Although the exact number of dead is not known, the official count by the US Customs Service was 1,547. It is believed to be the worst maritime disaster in US history. The coverage of the disaster was overshadowed by the assassination of President Lincoln which occurred April 14th.
River Discovery Center
We also walked along the Paducah Flood wall. This concrete wall was built after the disastrous flood of 1937 to help protect the city from future flooding of the Ohio River. In the 1990s and early 2000s, artist Robert Dafford painted over 50 murals on the wall depicting the city of Paducah and its history. Each mural is accompanied by a plaque explaining the mural and its significance. The murals are maintained by the artist and his assistants with yearly touch-ups. It is quite an outdoor gallery.
Paducah flood wall and just a few of the murals
Despite the overcast skies and temperature of only 52 for a high, we enjoyed our day in Paducah.
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