Secrets Of The Heloise: Diver Makes Historic Discovery In Tuscaloosa Shipwreck

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The first ship owned and operated by Black Warrior River legend Tim Parker caught fire in the mid-1940s due to industrial waste in the river being ignited by a spark from a welding torch.

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The sternwheel steamboat — named the Heloise — was first purchased by Parker in 1940, but sank to the bottom of the muddy river along with all of its contents and, until only recently, had been lost to history.

Enter a pair of curious divers: B.F. Goodrich employees James McGahey and Joe Tant, who first began their underwater excursions in the late 1970s.

It would be in 1978, though, that the intrepid divers made the discovery of a lifetime — the wreck of the Heloise. However, they didn't know anything about the ship at the time, which was well before the ease of access to information made possible by the internet.

“Riverview Boat Landing, where we dived a lot, was at the time the hub for navigation," McGahey said. "There were no locks or dams back in the day, so both sides were littered with all sorts of stuff – scrap iron, tools, anything you can imagine, was there ... At the time, the paddle wheel was still intact. We couldn’t believe it.”

Then, on another of McGahey's dives, he stumbled upon two bells amidst the gnarled wreckage.

“As I was deflating my insulated life jacket and began sinking with my hands in front of me, my hand went inside a big bell," he said. "When I flipped my light on, I was just shocked. There were actually two bells."

Wanting to know more about what the wreck could be, McGahey visited the Tuscaloosa Public Library, where he found a book that chronicled the sinking of two different ships in that area — the Robert Gordon and the Heloise.

In an effort to secure confirmation, McGahey reached out to Parker Towing, with the company agreeing that the bells belonged to the Heloise.

He also learned the valuable purpose of the bells on the ship, as the larger bell was used to alert other vessels on the river of the boat's presence through foggy conditions, while the smaller bell was used to communicate with crew members on the ship.

The story of the Heloise is very much the origin story of Parker Towing, which currently operates a fleet of 28 towboats and nearly 400 open and covered hopper barges, in addition to a fleet of tank barges. The company now boasts operations in Birmingham, Chattanooga, Decatur, Mobile, Pickensville and Tuscaloosa.

First established in 1940 by Tim Parker Sr., who had received his pilot's license just four years prior, Parking Towing used the Heloise to transport cargo up and down the Black Warrior River. The coal-fire stern wheel steamboat was first purchased in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and would be central to the company's genesis before the successful Parker made the transition to steel diesel engine boats — a more efficient means for pushing barges.

These trips downstream primarily involved hauling coal and cotton to various ports in the south, before also bringing back supplies on return trips. In some instances, the boat would even carry passengers.

Unfortunately, though, the Heloise's life on the river was short lived.

The day of the fire, Parker Towing's boats, including the Heloise, were docked at a landing just east of what is now the Woolsey Finnell Bridge on McFarland Boulevard. Parker Towing said this was als0 the location of Parker Towing’s first office and a central hub for towboat companies, as farmers had few other choices to effectively get their products to market.

Moments before a spark from a welder's torch caught fire to nearby industrial discharge in the Black Warrior River, Parker was in the process of having a steam engine removed from the boat when the helpless Heloise went up in flames.

In all, three boats sustained damage in the fire, with the Heloise suffering the worst of it and ultimately disappearing beneath the surface.

The name of the lost ship would go on to grace another boat in Parker Towing's fleet —a 130-foot by 35-foot twin screw towboat purchased by the company in 1995.

Tim Parker Jr. — the son of the legendary riverboat captain and businessman — said the bells are a symbol of pride and of his father's determination to build the company from nothing but the boat that still rests at the bottom of the Black Warrior River.

The bells are now displayed in Parker Towing's corporate headquarters in Tuscaloosa.

“They are a constant reminder of our origins and of my father and how he started this company,” Parker said. “There have been a lot of changes in this industry since then – the transition from coal to diesel and to electric in the future. But we’re thankful for my father’s foresight and ambition over 80 years ago. The presence of these bells reminds us of that ... We appreciate James for finding the bells and sharing them with us, for bringing them back home."

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