Ferries in Michigan

SS Badger, departing Ludington

Due to its unique geography, being made of two peninsulas surrounded by the Great Lakes, Michigan has depended on many ferries for connections to transport people, vehicles and trade. The most famous modern ferries are those which carry people and goods across the Straits of Mackinac to the car-free Mackinac Island but before the Mackinac Bridge was built, large numbers of ferries carried people and cars between the two peninsulas. Other ferries continue to provide transportation to small islands and across the Detroit River to Canada. Ferries once provided transport to island parks for city dwellers. The state's only national park, Isle Royale cannot be reached by road and is normally accessed by ferry. The largest ferries in Michigan are the car ferries which cross Lake Michigan to Wisconsin. One of these, the SS Badger is one of the last remaining coal steamers on the Great Lakes and serves as a section of US Highway 10 (US 10). The Badger is also the largest ferry in Michigan, capable of carrying 600 passengers and 180 autos.

In the early days of lake transport, it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between ferries, package freighters carrying passengers, and passenger liners on regular routes. The lakes and rivers often provided an easier route of travel than primitive or non-existent roads. Rail ferries would carry passenger trains and their occupants and later sometimes carried automobiles as well.

The first autos crossed the Straits of Mackinac in 1917 on the SS Chief Wawatam.[1] In 1923, the state of Michigan began an auto ferry service that was the first such system to be state-owned.[2] It continued until the day the Mackinac Bridge opened. The law required the ferry service to cease so that the bridge would not have competition and could pay off its construction bonds faster. The passenger ferries and many of the rail ferries across the Detroit and St. Clair rivers had ended after the bridges and tunnels were built.

The ferries pioneered concepts in ship design and icebreaking techniques. Bow propellers and steel spoon-shaped bows made the rail ferries the best icebreakers on the lakes for many years until the dedicated U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers were assigned during World War II. In contrast, the ferries later had some of the most outdated equipment on the Lakes. The Badger, still in service in 2016, is the last coal-fired Great Lakes passenger steamer. The Chief Wawatam was the last hand-fed coal steamer and the Landsdowne was the last paddlewheeler when it was converted to a barge in 1970.[3]

The Detroit-Windsor ferries were popular with small-scale bootleggers during Prohibition, especially as border guards were reluctant to search young Canadian women who worked in Detroit offices.[4]

Car ferries

Lake Express at dock

Lake Michigan

Cross-lake

Beaver Island

Current boats
Retired boats

St. Marys River

Ferry service to Sugar Island began in 1928 and to Neebish Island service in 1933, provided by private companies. The Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority assumed their operations in 1980.[7]

Neebish Island

Sugar Island

Lake Huron

Bois Blanc Island

Drummond Island

Current boats
Retired boats
Ironton Ferry, capacity 4 cars

St. Clair River

Detroit River

Internal

Passenger-only ferries

Lake Superior

Isle Royale

The National Park Service's ferry, Ranger III

Grand Island

Lake Michigan

Straits of Mackinac

An Arnold Line catamaran ferry at Mackinac Island
Current boats
  • Algomah (1961)
  • Beaver, (1952), freight
  • Chippewa (1962)
  • Corsair (1955), freight
  • Huron (1955)
  • Island Express (1988), catamaran
  • Mackinac Express (1987), catamaran
  • Mackinac Islander (1947), formerly Drummond Islander, freight
  • Ottawa (1959)
  • Straits Express (1995), catamaran
  • Straits of Mackinac II (1969)
Former boats
  • Emerald Isle Built 1955 for Beaver Island Boat Company. Owned by Arnold Line from 1962 to 1982. Now in Detroit as the Diamond Jack.
  • Algomah (built 1881), in use until the 1930s
  • Chippewa, 1883 to 1943 ran a Cheboygan–Mackinac Island–Sault Ste. Marie
  • Mackinac (1909)
  • Mackinac Islander (1922), in use 1938–69, originally The Oliver H. Perry, later freighter and sank as Alaska crab boat Belair in 1974[13]
  • Mackinac Islander (1958), sold in the 1980s, now Diamond Belle of Diamond Jack's River Cruises on the Detroit River
  • Mohawk (1956), since 1995 Diamond Queen of Diamond Jack's River Cruises
Current boats
  • La Salle (1983)
  • Radisson (1988)
  • Cadillac (1990)
  • Joliet (1993)
  • Marquette II (2005)
  • Anna May (2012)
Saugatuck Chain Ferry
Retired boats
  • La Salle
  • Nicolet
  • Treasure Islander
  • Flamingo
  • Marquette (1979)

Internal

Defunct ferries

Lake Michigan

Rail ferries to Wisconsin

Small rail ferry docking in Detroit, 1943

The Ann Arbor Railroad, Grand Trunk, and Chesapeake and Ohio ran train ferries across Lake Michigan. Several of these also carried passengers in the upper decks.

SS City of Midland 41 in 1976

Passenger and auto ferries

Straits of Mackinac

Before the construction of the Mackinac Bridge connecting the two peninsulas of Michigan, car and train ferries crossed between Mackinaw City, Michigan and St. Ignace. The early transport across the Straits was by private boat. The first large commercial concerns were the railways whose ferries pioneered concepts in ice breaking and ship design. The state took over auto traffic after complaints that the railways service was too expensive and unreliable for motorists.

Early ferries

Straits of Mackinac auto ferries

The state provided auto ferry service between 1923 and 1957. The ferries carried almost 1 million cars a year in the mid-1950s before the bridge opened in 1957. At that time, there were five ferries running with a total capacity of 500 cars; the largest ferry could carry 150.[2] In their last year of service, the state ferries employed 400 people.[18]

Rail ferries across the Straits of Mackinac

SS Chief Wawatam loading rail cars

Mackinac Island

St. Clair River

Detroit River

Detroit to Windsor

Detroit to Belle Isle ferry

Detroit to Boblo Island

SS Ste. Claire, c. 1915

Ferry service ran to the island from 1898-1993 by the Bois Blanc Excursion Line (part of the Detroit, Belle Island, and Windsor Ferry Company)

Detroit to Windsor rail ferries

Landsdowne carrying passenger train cars in 1905

Grosse Ile to Gordon, Ontario rail ferry

Lake Erie

References

  1. ↑ Bagley, Les (March 20, 2008). "Autos Across Mackinac: The Straits of Mackinac Is Sunk Near Chicago". The St. Ignace News.
  2. 1 2 "Michigan State Ferry Album". Mackinac Bridge Authority. 2012.
  3. ↑ "Exit the Landsdowne". The Scanner. 2 (6). March 1970 – via Toronto Marine Historical Society.
  4. ↑ A New Detroiter (June 25, 1922). "Rum Running Typists" (PDF). The New York Times. pp. 3, 9.
  5. ↑ "FAQ". Beaver Island Boat Company. 2012.
  6. ↑ "Our Boats". Diamond Jack's River Cruise. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  7. ↑ Corradino Group of Michigan (January 2007). "St Marys River Ferry System Master Plan" (PDF). Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority – via Michigan Department of Transportation.
  8. ↑ "Neebish Island Ferry". Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority. March 11, 2011.
  9. ↑ Burcar, Collenn & Taylor, Gene (2007). Michigan Curiosities (2nd ed.). Morris Book Publishing. p. 172. ISBN 9780762741113 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ "Schedule and Fares". Isle Royale Line. 2012.
  11. ↑ "Ranger III Fares". Isle Royale National Park. 2012.
  12. ↑ "Schedules". Grand Portage–Isle Royale Transportation Line. 2012.
  13. ↑ "'Mackinac Islander': 221429". Retrieved July 23, 2012 – via OhioLink Digital Resource Commons.
  14. ↑ New ferry, built in Onaway, has maiden voyage, Presque Isle County Advance, October 15, 2015
  15. ↑ Hilton, George Woodman (1962). The Great Lakes Car Ferries. p. 76. ISBN 0965862437.
  16. ↑ Bagley, Les (May 24, 2007). "Autos Across Mackinac: Resilient Ann Arbor No. 4 Survived Many Tragedies".
  17. 1 2 "The Pere Marquette Marine Fleet". Pere Marquette Historical Society. May 10, 2011. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Looking Back". Mackinac Island Town Crier. December 9, 2006.
  19. ↑ Eppley, Jonathan (November 12, 2009). "Chief Wawatam Scrapped". The St. Ignace News.
  20. ↑ Straus, Frank (August 18, 2007). "A Look at History: Algomah II Shuttled Thousands of Visitors to Mackinac Island". Mackinac Island Town Crier.
  21. ↑ Baulch, Vivian (January 22, 2000). "The Detroit River Ferryboats". The Detroit News.
  22. ↑ "The History of the Bob-Lo Steamers". Bois Blanc Steamers.
  23. ↑ "Walkerville & Detroit Ferry Company: The Last Ferry". The Walkerville Times. 2006.
  24. ↑ Roach, Al (1988). "Walkerville's Last Passenger Ferry". The Walkerville Times.
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