this blog
Posts
The steamer G.A.
Boeckling was built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works in Encorse , Michigan
This vessel was designed to carry 2,000 passengers,
and cost $120,000 to build. On June 26, 1909, the G.A. Boeckling was christened with a bottle of Hommel’s White Star
Champagne. The next day the Boeckling
began ferrying passengers from Sandusky
There were two passenger decks on the G.A.
Boeckling.
While onboard the Boeckling, a lovely view of the city of Sandusky
was visible as the vessel traveled to Cedar Point across Sandusky Bay
Because of rising costs for fuel and maintenance,
along with changes in laws requiring an increased number of crew members, the
Bay Transportation Company decided to retire the G.A. Boeckling. Her last trip to Cedar Point was on Labor Day Weekend
of 1951.
For several years the Boeckling was used as a floating warehouse and
machine shop in Sturgeon Bay ,
Wisconsin Toledo
8 comments:
Hey guys great post :) Love the old pics! I'm sure you already know - but you can find more records over at you local county clerks office if you're up to it! Just updated all listings for ohio county clerks and for every other state in the USA this July!
Cheers,
-Garret
I thought the Boeckling burned while berthed in Sandusky's harbor. Nothing to do with Toledo...
The G.A. Boeckling was taken to Toledo in 1988 for inspection and was stored in a Toledo shipyard while plans were being made on how to restore the boat. It was burned by a presumed arson in Toledo on June 21, 1989. The Sandusky Register had front-page articles on the fire in the June 21 and 22 papers.
Wow, my memory must be WAY off. Yipes.
I inherited two things from my grandfather who grew up in Sandusky in the early 1900's. One is a photo of him at age 8-9 after a great ice storm of the early 1900's and the other a glass paperweight of the Boeckling. He had worked on the boat in his younger years before he went to college. I recall some story of him using what sounded like a mop to grease the pistons. I remembered seeing this item as a kid and saw it amongst family heirlooms being distributed to my generation in our 60's.
My Mother, Sarah Ellen Vermilya Buddelmeyer, took my older brother and I to the beach at Cedar Point when we were toddlers as often as she could. We rode the ferry but it was not the Boeckling because the year would have been at 1955. My brother and I were born in Sandusky Ohio.
My aunt, Mary Bouy, would often pick me up on a warm summer's evening and we would board the G A Boeckling for a trip across the bay to Cedar Point. I was born in 1942 so it would have been in the late 1940s. We would often follow the ride by a hot fudge sundae at Walgreens. With extra hot fudge sauce, of course. Thanks for the memories Aunt Marie and Uncle Ed.
On the Boeckling, the fare for the trip across the bay was twenty-five cents...round trip. No fare was collected on the Cedar Point side. Just walk on and go. Departure from Columbus Ave. was on the hour; return from Cedar Point on the half-hour. Speedboat service was available at any time; for about a dollar each way as I recall.
Post a Comment