Steamer Frank E. Kirby

Sandusky photographer Ernst Niebergall took this picture of the steamer Frank E. Kirby in the first quarter of the twentieth century.   The Frank E. Kirby was built in Wyandotte, Michigan by the Detroit Dry Dock Company in 1890. Notes in our historical files indicate that the Frank E. Kirby travelled between Detroit and Sandusky, with stops at Kelleys Island, Put-in-Bay, and Middle Bass Island, until the end of 1919. Pictured below are members of the Silver Bell Benefit Club aboard the Frank E. Kirby. On Sunday, June 14, 1908, the members of the club traveled on the Frank E. Kirby to Detroit, to see the baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Athletics.

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