The Carferries of the Great Lakes
This Month in Carferry History
  • April 1, 1903 -- Gus Kitzinger of the Pere Marquette Line Steamers, aquired the PERE MARQUETTE 3 & 4 from the Pere Marquette Railway Co.
  • April 4, 1975 -- The State of Michigan filed a Federal Court suit to stop the Grand Trunk Railway from selling GRAND RAPIDS.  It was felt that selling the ferry would build a stronger case for abandonment of the entire ferry service.
  • April 4, 2000 -- A deck cabin from the ANN ARBOR NO. 5 went up for auction on eBay for $40,000.  There were no bids when the auction terminated on April 11, 2000.
  • April 5, 1977 -- Chessie System annouced that the CITY OF MIDLAND 41 would be withdrawn from service and only the SPARTAN and BADGER would run for the season.
  • April 6, 1931 -- The CITY OF FLINT 32 set a world record sailing 101,000 miles in her first year of service.
  • April 7, 2000 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 41 arrived to open the shipping season at Ludington during a snowstorm around 9:00 pm.
  • April 8, 1998 -- An unidentifed worker was injured in a fall aboard the CITY OF MIDLAND 41 that was being converted to a barge.
  • April 9, 1930 -- The CITY OF FLINT 32 entered service.  First Captain: Estan Bayle.
  • April 9, 1951 -- The keel was laid for the BADGER.
  • April 9, 1939 -- The CHIEF WAWATAM lost a bucket on her port wheel (propeller).  On April 12th, the CHIEF went to Mackinaw City where 20 inches of the opposite blade was cut off to balance the wheel.
  • April 10, 1912 -- The ANN ARBOR NO. 5 struck her stern against the channel in Manitowoc, bending her rudder, and damaging her port shaft.
  • April 11, 1985 -- It was announced that only 1 carferry would operate from Ludington that summer.
  • Apirl 11, 1985 -- Glen Bowden of the Michigan-Wisconsin Carferry Service (MWT) announced there would no longer be carferry service to Milwaukee.
  • April 11, 1974 -- The Grand Trunk carferry MADISON became the first non-Chessie carferry to dock at the Jones Island facilities at Milwaukee.  The Grand Trunk docks were closed down in a cost saving measure.
  • April 11, 2002 -- Long-time skipper of the CITY OF MIDLAND 41, Capt. Ernest “Gus” Barth, died.
  • April 14, 1898 -- Capain Joe Russell left the PERE MARQUETTE 15 and went back to the FLINT &PERE MARQUETTE  NO. 4.
  •  April 14, 1924 -- 19 year-old Edward Nelson was killed when he fell of the dock while assisting in tying up the ANN ARBOR #6 in her slip at Manistiqe, Michigan.
  • April 14, 1920 -- The ANN ARBOR NO. 4 was back in service after hitting a boulder, putting a hole in her hull just under her boilers.
  • April 15, 1930 -- While going up Manitowoc river to dry dock, the WABASH rubbed the parked steamer Theo Roosevelt and damaged her upper works forward.
  • April 15, 1987 -- Fire caused extensive damage to the Grand trunk carferry GRAND RAPIDS, which was laid up at Muskegon.  No one was on the ferry at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.
  • April 16, 1953 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 22 was drydocked in Manitowoc for upgrading of her engines and lengthening.
  • April 17, 1970 -- The CITY OF FLINT 32 was sold to the Norfolk & Western Railway for $100,000.
  • April 18, 1936 -- Albert W. Ackerman , chief engineer of the Pere Marquette carferries for 35 years, died.
  • April 18, 1968 -- The St. Ignace Republican ran an article called "CHIEF IS DEAD, REPLACED BY TUG AND BARGE".  The CHIEF WAWATAM was laid up at State Dock 2.  The barge MANISTEE and tug MUSKEGON were taking over the route once serviced by the CHIEF.
  • April 19, 1917 -- The ANN ARBOR NO. 5 broke off her starboard shaft and bent the rudder stock on the rocky corner of the old Goodrich dock in Manitowoc.
  • April 21, 1998 -- The PERE MARQUETTE  41 (former CITY OF MIDLAND 41) was towed to Sturgeon Bay from Muskegon for the remainder of the conversion.  She was towed by the Mary Page Hannah and the Carl William Selvick.
  • April 21, 1888 -- Joseph "Joe" Russell took command of the FLINT & PERE MARQUETTE NO. 2
  • April 25, 1973 -- It was announced that the CITY OF SAGINAW 31 would be scrapped, following the fire in 1971.
  • April 25, 1925 -- The ANN ARBOR NO. 4 was back in service after grounding on February 13th.
  • April 26, 2000 -- It was announced in the Ludington Daily News today (4/26) that the former Ann Arbor carferry ARTHUR K. ATKINSON had been sold.
  • April  28, 1897 -- The FLINT & PERE MARQUETTE  steamer NO. 1 bound from Milwaukee for Chicago, ran ashore just north of Evanston
Sources:
  • The Great Lakes Carferries, by George Hilton (Howell-North, 1962)
  • Herman G. Runge Collection at the Milwaukee Public Library
  • Detroit Marine Historian
  • Frederickson's History of the Ann Arbor Auto and Train Ferries, by Arthur C. and Lucy F. Frederickson (Gulls Nest Publishing, 1994)
  • Ludington's Carferries: The Rise, Decline & Rebirth of a Great Lakes Fleet, Ludington Daily News (Ludington Daily News, 1997)
  • Mason County Historical Society.
  • Harold "Lucky" LaFleur

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