New Becky Thatcher Riverboat Docks at Gateway Arch, First in 40 Years

A new paddlewheel riverboat has arrived at the steps of the Gateway Arch, giving St. Louis its first new tour vessel in nearly 40 years. The replica 19th-century boat, named the Becky Thatcher, will become the second riverboat offering Mississippi River tours along the St. Louis riverfront, joining the existing Tom Sawyer in the Riverboats at the Gateway Arch fleet.

The new vessel replaces a 1963 riverboat that Bi-State Development retired on January 1, 2024, and sold that July to Memphis Riverboats, where it was renamed the Belle of Memphis, according to Gateway Arch. That earlier boat had served St. Louis since arriving in 1987. As reported by First Alert 4, the Becky Thatcher marks the first fleet expansion for the riverfront in nearly four decades.

Bi-State Development President and CEO Taulby Roach said welcoming the Becky Thatcher to join the Tom Sawyer honors St. Louis riverboat history and creates more opportunities for guests to experience the river, per First Alert 4. Bi-State Development has continued the riverboat tradition on the Mississippi for 25 years, having acquired the excursion fleet in 2001 and folded it into a broader regional portfolio that also includes MetroLink light rail, MetroBus, and the Gateway Arch tram system.

A Name With a Long St. Louis History

The Becky Thatcher name has carried real weight on the St. Louis riverfront for decades. The original Becky Thatcher (I) was converted in 1947 from an 1879 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers snagboat before sinking during low water conditions on the river in 1965, according to Gateway Arch. A second Becky Thatcher later served as a popular riverfront establishment in St. Louis from 1968 until 1975, the same source notes, before the 1963-built vessel that just retired became the third boat to carry the name.

Replica paddlewheel excursion boats first showed up on the St. Louis riverfront in 1964, brought in specifically to give spectators a closer vantage point for watching construction of the Gateway Arch, according to the National Park Service. That puts the new arrival within a tradition stretching back roughly six decades, and further still if measured against the city's broader steamboat era, which the Gateway Arch Park Foundation traces to the August 1817 arrival of the Zebulon M. Pike, when St. Louis became the central Midwest inland port for 19th-century westward expansion.

Rangers Still Narrate the Cruises

The educational programming that has long defined the excursions is expected to continue aboard the new boat. Through an official partnership with Gateway Arch National Park, National Park Service rangers regularly board the riverboats to narrate daily one-hour sightseeing cruises covering local history and river commerce, according to Gateway Arch's fact sheet. Those cruises also highlight the city's role as an agricultural transportation hub.

The Riverboats at the Gateway Arch draw roughly 170,000 visitors annually for sightseeing cruises, dinner trips, and private events, a figure detailed in Hoodline's prior riverfront coverage. Excursions run seasonally from March through November, with the dock accessible along Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard within short walking distance of the Laclede's Landing MetroLink Station, and parking available directly on the riverfront levee.

Part of a Larger Riverfront Overhaul

The new boat's arrival lands within a riverfront that has already seen a major public investment. A $380 million public-private renovation of Gateway Arch National Park, completed in 2018, revitalized the levee and park grounds and created an estimated 4,400 permanent regional jobs, according to Bi-State Development. That project is described as the largest public-private effort in National Park Service history.

The riverfront has also drawn recent police attention. On July 30, the riverboat operation and a nearby food truck along Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard were burglarized, prompting the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to seek three suspects on charges of second-degree burglary and stealing, Hoodline's earlier riverboat break-in report noted. That incident occurred just weeks before the Becky Thatcher's arrival at the levee directly below the Arch grounds.