The Steamer Eastland

The Eastland served as a passenger liner between Cleveland and the Cedar Point amusement park from 1907 to 1913. 

                                 

In its final season in 1913, it is estimated that the Eastland carried 200,000 people to and from Cedar Point. A steam calliope entertained passengers on the Eastland on their boat ride. Below is a postcard of the Eastland arriving at Cedar Point.

              

In 1911, S.J. Monck wrote words and music to a song titled On the Boat Eastland. It was considered the waltz hit of that summer season. The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center owns a photocopy of the sheet music.

 

By 1915, the Eastland had moved to Chicago as its primary port. It became infamous for the disaster of July 24, 1915. More than 800 people lost their lives when the boat rolled over into the Chicago River just at the edge of the wharf shortly after its departure. The Eastland Disaster Historical Society is devoted to the memory of those who lost their lives in this tragedy.

The Steamer Chippewa

The steamer Chippewa served as a passenger boat in the Lake Erie islands region from 1922 to 1938, for the Sandusky and Islands Steamboat Company. From 1884 to 1909, the vessel was named the William P. Fessenden, and served as a revenue cutter for the United States Treasury Department. 

During the 1924 tornado the Chippewa stayed afloat, but the Columbus sank into the waters of Sandusky Bay.

     

In an advertisement which appeared in the August 7, 1923 issue of the Sandusky Register, passengers aboard the Chippewa were treated to music by an orchestra on their return trip from Put in Bay.

Pictured below are passengers disembarking from the Chippewa in the 1930s.

  

The Chippewa offered “twilight rides” for those attending the state convention of the American Legion, held in Sandusky in August, 1934. In 1939 it was sold to the Peerless Cement Company, for use as a barge, and in 1943 it was scrapped in Hamilton, Ontario. 

Here is a postcard featuring the Chippewa from its days as a passenger boat in Lake Erie on the Sandusky, Put in Bay, Lakeside route:

Three Vessels Named Erie Isle

From 1930 to 1946 the Erie Isle, pictured above, ferried cars and passengers back and forth to the Lake Erie islands. This ship had originally been known as the Fredericka. In 1933 the Erie Isle docked at the foot of Hancock Street at the Schacht Fish Company dock. The boat left Sandusky at 2:30 in the afternoon, and left Put in Bay at 7:00 in the morning. From 1938 to 1941, a Canadian ship, also known as the Erie Isle, took passengers from Sandusky to Canada.  This vessel had originally been named the Waubic.

       

An advertisement in the August 19, 1939 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal invited people to a lake excursion to Kingsville aboard the Erie Isle, departing from Sandusky on August 21.     

                      

Yet another ship named Erie Isle was in operation for the Erie Isles Ferry Company from 1951 to 1973, taking passengers to Put in Bay. Below is a postcard which shows several crew and passengers about the boat.

An interesting article by Gordon Wendt about the long tradition of passenger boat service to Put in Bay is found in the Sandusky Register of March 8, 1992, now on microfilm.

Excursions on Lake Erie in 1912

Retired lake freighter captain, Wendell Parry, donated the poster which advertised Toledo Excursions on the Steamer Arrow. On the Sundays of September 15, 22, and 29 in 1912, the Arrow took passengers on an excursion to the Lake Erie Islands and Toledo. The Arrow left Sandusky at 7:30 a.m., and left Toledo at 4:30 p.m. Round trip fare for the excursions was fifty cents (about $12.60 in today's money). These steamer excursions gave local residents a break from the summer heat, for a very reasonable price. Pictured below is the Arrow at the foot of Columbus Avenue in the early twentieth century.

The Frank E. Kirby also ferried passengers to the Lake Erie Islands area in Detroit in the summer of 1912. The seating capacity on the Frank E. Kirby was 3500.  Round trip fares from Sandusky to Detroit cost seventy five cents.

Before it was the custom for almost every middle class family to own and operate an automobile, the steamers on Lake Erie provided inexpensive transportation for summertime fun for hundreds of residents of the North Coast.