BOBLO BOAT COLUMBIA

“THE BOBLO BOAT – COLUMBIA”

Boblo Boat, Columbia

The Boblo boat Columbia was launched in 1910 and continued to run until it was eventually retired in 1991.

The steamship took many an excursion up and down the Detroit River to the Boblo Island Amusement park, an island in the middle of the Detroit River, along with her companion the Ste. Claire. Both the steamship Columbia and steamship Ste. Claire are the last two excursion vessels remaining from the Detroit and Windsor Ferry Co. These two rare steamers (properly classed as ferries) have heard much laughter and seen many smiling faces of countless families and individuals from the Detroit and Windsor area. Today the future is unsure for these passenger ferries. There have been several unsuccessful attempts to try and restore them, but the amounts of repairs are enormous. They sit idle at two separate docks in the United States waiting for someone or some group to give them life.

Ronald Suchiu has made it possible to own a piece of the past by sketching these once delightful ferries. When you hang them proudly on your wall, just listen to the stories from friends and family members as they recount the “good old days” from those cherished memories from days gone by.