 Columbia c.1910. FromColumbia's nomination to theNational Register. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Columbia |
| Port of registry | USA |
| Route | Detroit–Bob-Lo Island |
| Ordered | January, 1902 |
| Builder | Detroit Shipbuilding Co. |
| Yard number | 148 |
| Launched | 1902 |
| In service | May 10, 1902 |
| Out of service | 1991 |
| Status | under restoration |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | excursion steamer |
| Tonnage | 968 (gross) 549 (net) |
| Length | 207.67 ft (63.30 m) |
| Beam | 45 ft (14 m) |
| Draft | 12.5 ft (3.8 m) |
| Depth | 17.79 ft (5.42 m) |
| Installed power | Bunker C in Scotch boilers |
| Propulsion | Triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine |
| Speed | Originally up to 21 mph |
Columbia (Excursion Steamer) | |
   | |
| Location | Buffalo, New York |
| Coordinates | 42°51′39″N78°51′44″W / 42.860878°N 78.862312°W /42.860878; -78.862312 |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1902[2] |
| Architect | Frank E. Kirby[1] |
| NRHP reference No. | 79001171[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 2 November 1979[1] |
| Designated NHL | 6 July 1992[3] |
SSColumbia is one of the last remaining excursion steamship from the turn of the 20th century in existence, the other being her running mate and sister shipSSSte. Claire which was badly damaged in a fire in 2018. Both were designed byFrank E. Kirby and Louis O. Keil, interior designer.Columbia was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1979, and was designated aNational Historic Landmark in 1992.[1][4][5] As of 2019, the vessel is docked at Silo City inBuffalo, New York while work is being done to rehabilitate it.[6] However as of February 2024 the restoration group's website was offline and archived images showed no updates since 2021.[7] In March 2024 a local news and events site described the vessel as "at risk"[8] and their social media pages were offline.
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Columbia was built inWyandotte, Michigan, in 1902, andSte. Claire was built inToledo, Ohio, in 1910. The naval architect Frank Kirby designed a new steel support system forColumbia that allowed for the spans needed for a dance floor, thusColumbia was the first steamboat in the US with a proper ballroom.Columbia influenced the design of later excursion steamers includingAmericana,Canadiana,Ste. Claire,Put-in-bay, andPeter Stuyvesant, throughout the US.Columbia andSte. Claire were originally joined by a third, SSBritannia, built in 1906. During their heyday,Columbia andSte. Claire sailed down theDetroit River from downtownDetroit toBois Blanc Island, anOntario island that was home to anamusement 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 (29 km) boat ride to theBoblo Island Amusement Park. Both ships featured music and dancing, and snack bars. The ships became icons on the Detroit River and were greatly loved by the people of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Columbia became the setting for an historic Civil Rights battle in 1945 when a young African American woman namedSarah Elizabeth Ray joined her classmates for a celebratory graduation cruise aboard the ship. Officers of the Boblo Excursion company then approached 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. Ray enlisted the help of the NAACP in filing a complaint, and the State of Michigan charged the company with violating its civil rights law. The company claimed due to their routes crossing the Canada–US border that they were engaged in international commerce and were not subject to state regulations. Michigan won in the local courts and then in state court and ultimately in the US Supreme court.[9][10]
Due to competition from nearbyCedar Point, attendance at Bob-lo Island declined. In 1990, the company then operating Bob-lo 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 forColumbia andSte. Claire and they were sold as a pair in the federal bankruptcy court in Minneapolis in November, 1991. In 1993, Bob-lo Island was closed and sold to real estate developers. The vessels were docked near the Great Lakes Steel Company inEcorse, Michigan, where they sat unprotected from the harsh Michigan winters. They were auctioned in foreclosure in 1996 and by 2000, both steamers were showing deterioration with chipped paint, rotting wood, and holes in the decks.
In 2004 a team led by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy hadColumbia "shrink-wrapped" to reduce further deterioration while they considered purchase and restoration. However, in early 2006, given budgetary constraints they removed themselves from consideration. Later that year, with the assistance of National Trust for Historic PreservationColumbia was awarded to a New York-based non-profit group, "The S.S. Columbia Project", for restoration to active service as an educational, cultural, and Heritage tourism resource for use on theHudson River.
The plan for the ship's restoration and re-use was based on the European model of maritime preservation where the ship's restoration is funded through a non profit capital campaign and then the ship's operations are funded through earned revenues. Plans for the restored ship included daily excursions from the west side of Manhattan to the communities of the Hudson Valley.[11]
Temporary alterations on both steamers,Columbia andSte. Clair, were made for the 2014 feature filmTransformers: Age of Extinction.[12]
In September 2014,Columbia was towed from Detroit to Toledo, Ohio, for dry docking in preparation for moving to New York. In September 2015, she was moved toBuffalo, New York,[13] where she is being prepared for an eventual move to theHudson River.[11]
The video for the 2017 single "Score The Sky" by the UK band Lost Horizons was filmed at locations including the SSColumbia.[14]
As of December 2024 the official web site was off-line to public viewing.[15]
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