CHICAGO HARBOR LIGHTHOUSE

In 1891 a third order lens that was to be installed at the Point Loma, California Lighthouse was placed on display at the Colombian Exposition being held in Chicago. When the new Chicago Harbor Light was completed in 1893 it got the lens instead. The Chicago Harbor Light complex includes the brick-lined steel tower, a fog signal building, and a boathouse.

FRED A. BUSSE CHICAGO FIREBOAT

The Busse was named for the 32nd mayor of Chicago. Built in 1936 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company of Bay City, Michigan, she is 92 feet in length with a beam width of 23 feet and depth of 8 feet. The Busse is depicted here as she would have looked in the early 1980s at rest along the Chicago River. Now retired from many years of hard work as an active fire boat, she now serves as a tour boat in Wisconsin's Door County.

MARBLEHEAD LIGHTHOUSE

Built in 1822, on Lake Erie's Marblehead Peninsula, she is the oldest continuous operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes. William Kelly was the contractor who built the 50 foot tall tower with a base 25 feet in diameter and walls 5 feet thick from native limestone. Benajah Wolcott, a Revolutionary War veteran, served as the first light keeper. Marblehead Lighthouse is owned and maintained by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Her beacon continues to be operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. 

GREAT LAKES TOWING TUG "OHIO"

The "Laurence C. Turner" was built in 1903 by the Ship Owners Dry Dock Company in Chicago to serve as a firetug for the city of Milwaukee. The Turner was retired in 1948. The Great Lakes Towing Company of Cleveland rebuilt her as a towing tug and renamed her "Ohio".

SOUTH AMERICAN

 

Launched in 1914 and retired in 1967, the "SS South American" was the last of the elegant steam passenger ships to sail the Great Lakes. 

ST. MARYS CHALLENGER

 

First named the "William P. Snyder" this vessel was built as a bulk carrier by the Great Lakes Engineering Works of Ecorse, Michigan two years prior to the introduction of the Model T Ford. Launched in February of 1906 she is the oldest commercial ship still employed in trade on the Great Lakes. In 1950, her original triple expansion steam engine was replaced with a Skinner Marine Unaflow model rated at 3,500 i.p.h. In 1966, Manitowoc Shipbuilding of Manitowoc, Wisconsin converted her to a cement carrier. Over the years she has had several owners and name changes including:"Elton Hoyt II", "Alex D. Chisholm", "Medusa Challenger", "Southdown Challenger", and currently "St. Marys Challenger".