While approaching a century of quality work on the river as the oldest and most successful ventures of Anderson-Tully Co., Patton-Tully reins as one of the most recognizable and respected companies on the river today.

In 1906, C.E. Patton and Bart C. Tully formed the company as the marine transportation arm of Anderson-Tully. They began by acquiring equipment from The Memphis Towing, Barge and Derrick Company and the Bluff City Towing Company.

In the early days, the company’s river fleet consisted of the 355-ton stern wheel steamboat Dolphin No. 3, along with three smaller steamers, two derrick boats and 16 wooden barges. To service these vessels, the company purchased a dry-dock ad floating shop from W.E. Hankins of Greenville, Mississippi.

Between 1915 and 1917, Patton-Tully expanded their fleet by acquiring additional large sternwheelers: the Eugenia Tully and the Bart Tully. In 1918, the firm purchased the ferry Charles H. Organ from the West Memphis Packet Company and renamed it the Dan Quinn. In addition, the company used a number of smaller, gasoline-powered harbor and workboats.

Patton-Tully purchased its last large sternwheeler, the Yocona, in 1925. Originally coal-fired and steam-powered, her boilers were converted to oil in 1936. She towed barges for the company for 22 years, until taken out of service in 1947.

The larger boats were primarily used to tow wooden barges up and down the Mississippi. In 1924, Patton-Tully began replacing the wooden barges with steel vessels, and as the company grew, the number of barges increased as well. Today the firm operates 72 barges, which are mainly used to carry rock and equipment.

A similar evolution occurred with the company’s towboats. Shortly before World War II, Patton-Tully began replacing its steam- and gasoline-powered boats with modern diesel-driven craft. Between 1957 and 1976, the firm built six new towboats in Memphis. Patton-Tully began contract towing before World War II for a variety of customers, including Standard Oil. The company’s medium-sized vessels could not compete with the larger towboats on the river, however; so little contract towing has been done since 1965. Today, the firm’s vessels are primarily used for river construction work, salvage and construction of docks and harbors.

The 1990’s brought about some major changes for Patton-Tully in the form of expansion and specialization. In August of 1994, Patton-Tully purchased Davis Construction Co. and implemented towboat services of the Miss Jennie (formerly the Mary L. Davis) and Edward Perry. In June 1995, Patton-Tully acquired the towboat services of the 4600 hp. Bart C. Tully Jr. (formerly the G.R. Packet). IN April of 1998 Patton-Tully began major development of a limestone quarry called Brickeys Stone LLC located at UMR mile 136 in Bloomsdale, MO. Today, Brickeys Stone now owns and operates the Bart C. Tully Jr., Kate Tully, Bill Houser, and Marie J. In June of 1998 Patton-Tully Transportation Co. split into 3 separate entities: Patton-Tully Transportation LLC, Patton-Tully Construction LLC and Patton-Tully Salvage LLC.

Since 1906, Patton-Tully Transportation and its subsidiaries have provided quality work on the river. Years of experience have been dedicated to preserving thousands of acres of farmland, protecting cities and homes along river banks from flooding, maintaining our nation’s river navigation system, and providing the best possible product to our customers. As Patton-Tully Transportation and its subsidiaries plan for the future, the same quality and experience will be provided to all of our customers as safe and environmentally friendly as possible.