SS Columbia

Columbia (steamer)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
250px Columbia in apx. 1905. The tag is from Columbia's nomination to the National Register.
Location:	Detroit, Michigan
Built/Founded:	1902
Architect:	Frank E. Kirby
Added to NRHP:	2 November 1979
Designated NHL:	6 July 1992
NRHP Reference#:	79001171

The SS Columbia is one of two remaining turn-of-the-century excursion steamships in existence, the second being her running mate, and sister ship the SS Ste. Claire. Both were designed by Frank E. Kirby and Louis O. Keil. The Columbia was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

History

The Columbia was constructed in Wyandotte, Michigan in 1902, and the Ste. Claire was constructed in Toledo, Ohio in 1910. The great naval architect Frank Kirby designed a new girder system for Columbia that allowed for the spans needed for a dance floor, thus Columbia was the first steamboat in the US with a proper ballroom. Columbia influenced the design of excursion steamers including Americana, Canadiana, Ste. Claire, Put-in-bay, Peter Stuyvesant, and Catalina throughout the US. Columbia and Ste. Claire were originally joined by a third, the SS Britannia, built in 1906. During their heyday, the Columbia and Ste. Claire sailed down the Detroit River from downtown Detroit to Bois Blanc Island, a Canadian island that was home to an amusement park built as a destination for the steamers. During the summer, the ship's triple decks would be filled with passengers enjoying the 90-minute, 18-mile boat ride to the island. Both ships featured music and dancing, an arcade, and a snack bar. The ships became icons on the Detroit River and greatly loved by the people of Detroit.

Columbia became the setting for a historic Civil Rights battle in 1945 when a young African American woman named Sara Elizabeth Ray went to join her classmates for a celebratory graduation cruise aboard the ship. Officers of the Boblo Excursion company then approached Ms. Ray and told her she had to leave due to her race. when they threatened her with physical removal - she agreed to leave, but not before throwing the proffered fare refund back at them and getting their names. Ms. Ray enlisted the help of the NAACP in filing a complaint against the line for illegal discrimination. The Boblo Excursion company claimed exemption from the Michigan statutes due to their routes traversing the Canadian border - thereby claiming that they were engaged in international commerce and were not subject to state regulations. Ms. Ray won in the local courts and then in state court and ultimately in the US Supreme court. This decision, is viewed as being the first step towards Brown vs. Board of Education. Ms. Ray's courageous gesture predates Rosa Park's historic stand by 10 years but is little known today.

Sadly, attendance at Bois Blanc Island began to decline due to competition from nearby Cedar Point. In 1990, the company that then operated Boblo Island said the steamers were too much to handle and were becoming a burden on the company's finances. The summer of 1991 was the last for the Columbia and Ste. Claire. In 1993, Bois Blanc Island was closed and sold to real estate developers. The ships were docked outside the Great Lakes Steel Company in Ecorse, Michigan where they sat unprotected to the harsh Michigan winters. They were auctioned in 1996. By 2000, the once beautiful steamers looked like floating ghost ships with severely chipped paint, rotting wood, holes in the decks, and severe deterioration.

In 2001, a husband and wife from Lorain, Ohio purchased the Ste. Claire, towed her to Toledo, Ohio for initial repairs. In 2002, she was towed to Lorain for further work. In June 2005 she returned to the Detroit River and was docked in Windsor, Ontario for the Freedom Festival fireworks show. While only partially restored, she is maintained and looks almost as beautiful as she did during her glory days on the Detroit River. Ste. Claire was sold to Maximus Corp in December 2005, and is currently undergoing more restoration work and is expected return to service in 2010, for her 100th birthday.

On the other hand, the Columbia still sits in Ecorse. A team led by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy had the boat "shrink-wrapped" (in heavy plastic tarps) in 2004 to reduce further deterioration while they considered purchase and restoration. However, in early 2006, their feasibility study determined that the Columbia was unlikely to attract enough revenue for normal maintenance even if the estimated US$ 5 million restoration cost was raised, and they removed themselves from consideration. A plan by the National Trust for Historic Preservation fell through earlier. Later that year, Columbia was awarded to a New York non-profit group, "The S.S. Columbia Project", for restoration and use as a tour boat on the Hudson River. Stabilization of the Columbia has begun.

See also

• Ste. Claire (passenger steamboat)

External links

• S.S. Columbia Project