Happy Birthday to the Boblo Boat!

Posted on by farlane

SS Ste Claire – Boblo Boat by Will Jensen

HistoricDetroit.org is one of my favorite follows on Facebook. They share that today is 115th anniversary of the launch of the the Boblo boat Ste. Claire from the Toledo Shipbuilding Co. at Toledo, Ohio, on May 7, 1910.

For generations, she and her older partner in fun times, the Columbia, would ferry Detroiters from downtown to the Boblo Island amusement park Downriver. The two Boblo boats made their final run to Boblo Island on Sept. 2, 1991, and smaller boats were used to transport families to the island until the park closed Sept. 30, 1993. In the meantime, the two steamers – among the last of their kind – were designated as National Historic Landmarks on July 6, 1992, signifying their rarity and importance to American history.

There have been many attempts to save both of the historic vessels over the ensuing decades, including one launched by Dr. Ron Kattoo when he bought the Ste. Claire in 2007. Sadly, on July 6, 2018, the Ste. Claire was completely destroyed by a fire that broke out on board during restoration efforts.

Here’s a shot of the Boblo Boat from back in the day along with another shot of the Ste Claire & the now vanished Joe Louis staircase by Will from his Detroit gallery on Flickr.

Much more about the Steamer Ste Claire and Boblo on Historic Detroit!

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6 thoughts on “Happy Birthday to the Boblo Boat!”

  1. I didn’t realize the Boblo Boat Ste. Claire was that old. I didn’t know about this site, so I went over to FB and looked at it and followed, though sadly I read the site’s owner has some health challenges and won’t be posting as often. I think I only went to Boblo once – we didn’t move here until I was 10 years old. I didn’t realize it was that long ago already that the Ste. Claire caught fire and was destroyed. I think he was going to make it into a restaurant if memory serves me right.

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    2. I hope the restorations of the Ste. Claire and Columbia continue and both of these vessels will once again board visitors. I worked and lived on the Columbia as a deckhand in the late 70’s and have great memories of the trips up and down the Detroit River.

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      1. I hope so too Jim. Children today, even adults, should have that experience. I didn’t move to the States (from Canada) until 1966, but I did visit and ride on one of the Boblo boats as a teenager. It would have been exciting to be a deckhand aboard the Columbia, surrounded by lots of happy people excited for that day trip to Boblo.

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