Towns and Nature: Manistee, MI: S.S. City of Milwaukee Ferry Museum

(Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

This town did not have a ferry dock. But the town has become the permanent home of S.S. City of Milwaukee as a museum and Bed and Breakfast. It was launched in 1930 and served the Grand Trunk Railroad for about 47 years and then did four more years for the Ann Arbor. "The ferry could carry between 28 and 30 loaded railroad cars across the lake, generally on either the Muskegon, Michigan, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, route or between Frankfort and Elberta, Michigan, and Kewaunee and Manitowoc, Wisconsin." [AtlasObscura]

Julian and Christian Stadeli, Jul 2018

Todd Benoit

CarFerry

The Steamship Historical Society of America posted

And the award goes to...

Museum Ship of the Year – City of Milwaukee

The SS City of Milwaukee is a Great Lakes railroad car ferry that once plied Lake Michigan, often between Muskegon, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was built for the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company in 1931 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to replace SS Milwaukee, which sank with all hands on October 22, 1929. She has a carrying capacity of 28–32 fully loaded rail cars and was powered by four Scotch marine boilers. She steamed for Grand Trunk until 1978 and then chartered to the Ann Arbor Railroad until she was retired permanently in 1982. She is currently preserved in Manistee, Michigan, as a National Historic Landmark museum and represents the last unmodified traditional railroad car ferry afloat upon the lakes, still with her triple expansion steam engine, original woodwork and brass fixtures.

The Steamship Historical Society of America shared
Tony Strublic: A wonderful museum and even better that you can experience staying aboard as it is also a b&b. Have done so a few times now, and it is quite the experience!

Bonus: Historic Harbor

Brendon Baillod posted

This interesting Manistee, Michigan card arrived today. The view dates from about 1906 and ticks all the boxes for what I like to collect. It's a scarce, hand-colored card from a smaller port that highlights a local industry and features vessel types that were rapidly disappearing at the time.

The north side of the channel is absolutely bristling with schooner masts while a classic steam-barge chugs out of the harbor with a deckload of the barreled salt that established Manistee as the "salt city of the inland seas." The railroad tracks to the right show a big load of logs destined for the sawmill.

Thanks to Bill Lafferty for identifying the steamer as the Minnie E. Kelton. She had an interesting career that Bill is currently documenting. She was built in 1894 at West Bay City and went to the west coast in 1907, sailing around the Horn of South America as the Panama Canal hadn't yet opened. She eventually ended her career in 1914 when she wrecked on the Columbia River in Oregon.

For more on her see:

https://greatlakeships.org/2904145/data?n=1

Brendon Baillod shared

Association for Great Lakes Maritime History posted
A side view of the cross-lake ferry City of Milwaukee taken from a passing ship at Milwaukee, Wis. on Nov. 26, 1936 (Image Source: University of Wisconsin Madison Digital Collections – The Great Lakes Maritime History Project).
[The description continues with a history of the ferry.]

Bread Schaft posted four photos with the comment: "SS City of Milwaukee in Manistee Michigan."

George Lanivich posted seven photos with the comment:

The SS City of Milwaukee is the last of six sister ships designed in the 1920s and built by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding company out of Wisconsin. It is located in Manistee, Michigan. It is available for tours, facility rental, contains a bed and breakfast (May through early Sept.) and hosts the annual GhostShip Haunted House every Friday and Sat in Oct at 7:30 pm.
I love visiting northern Michigan for the fall colors and salmon fishing. Gives opportunity to tour the ship in a spooky way! I’m new to the group and thought I would share. Greetings from metro Detroit!