Lost Washington: Steamer District of Columbia

The District of Columbia was the last of the Norfolk and Washington Steamboat Company’s ships to be put in service. It was built late in 1924 at Wilmington by Pusey & Jones to replace the Newport News which had burned earlier that year.

When the US Government requisitioned both the Northland and Southland for wartime use, only the District of Columbia was left in company service. During the war the District of Columbia operated every other day between Norfolk and Washington.

In 1948 the District of Columbia, en route from Washington and Old Point to Norfolk, struck the bow of the Texas Company tanker Georgia doing extensive damage and causing loss of one passenger and injuring three others.

As a result of the accident, the Baltimore Steam Packet Company took over the Norfolk & Washington Steamboat Company and its only vessel. The District of Columbia continued in service on the Washington route until 1957 when the service was discontinued. The ship continued in service between Norfolk and Baltimore until that route was abandoned in 1962. It ended its days as the Provincetown and was used in Cape Cod service out of Boston.

The image below is of an interior from a Norfolk & Washington steamship ca. 1940 and most likely form the District of Columbia.