Port of Ludington Maritime Museum

09/04/2026

Freighter Friday Feature: PM 22, Piloting the Carferry 🚢

Guiding a massive car ferry across Lake Michigan took more than skill; it took nerve, precision, and years of experience on the water. The pilothouse was where every decision came together, from reading the weather to navigating busy shipping lanes.

This Freighter Friday, we're featuring the PM 22: Piloting the Carferry exhibit at the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum. Step into a recreated pilothouse and get a feel for the responsibility that came with steering one of these massive vessels safely to shore.

The exhibit offers an up-close look at the instruments, controls, and stories behind the men who piloted the car ferries that connected Ludington to ports across the lake.

Visit the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum this Friday and save $5 on regular admission as part of America's 250th Celebration.

📅 Every Friday through Labor Day Weekend
🎟️ Save $5 on Regular Admission Fridays only
*Museum Discovery Passes are excluded from this promotion.

09/04/2026

Part 5: The largest of the Black Boats

By 1890, the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway had transformed its cross-lake operation from a single chartered steamer into a fleet of four railroad-owned passenger and package-freight vessels. But the volume of freight moving through Ludington continued to grow. The railroad’s next vessel would be significantly larger than the ships that preceded her and, unlike Nos. 1 through 4, would initially be designed almost entirely around moving freight.

F&PM No. 5 was built by F.W. Wheeler & Co. at West Bay City, Mich., and launched Nov. 10, 1890. The wooden-hulled steamer measured 226 feet between perpendiculars and more than 240 feet overall, with a beam of 38 feet. At 1,723 gross tons, she was by far the largest of the F&PM’s original Black Boats. Her triple-expansion steam engine developed approximately 1,350 indicated horsepower.

Unlike F&PM No. 3 and F&PM No. 4, which combined substantial passenger accommodations with freight capacity, No. 5 was built as a straight package freighter without passenger accommodations. One of her principal purposes was moving flour and other freight eastward from Wisconsin during the winter months, when the closing of navigation through the Straits of Mackinac diverted substantial amounts of traffic to the F&PM’s shorter cross-lake route through Ludington.

The amount of freight passing over the Ludington docks during this period was enormous. Between December 1892 and March 1, 1893, the railroad reported that its five steamers transported the equivalent of about 4,000 carloads of eastbound freight. About 1,400 carloads consisted of grain totaling approximately 1.2 million bushels, with much of the remainder consisting of flour and mill products. Westbound traffic included merchandise and thousands of barrels of salt. About 300 men were employed in the Ludington freight sheds during the winter rush, with loading and unloading continuing much of the time day and night.

But the impressive capacity of F&PM No. 5 also demonstrated the fundamental weakness of the system. None of those railroad cars actually crossed Lake Michigan aboard the vessel. Their cargo had to be unloaded at Ludington, moved through the freight sheds and stowed aboard the steamer. On the Wisconsin side, workers repeated the process in reverse. No matter how large the Black Boats became, the railroad still faced the expense and delay of physically transferring freight between trains and ships.

That problem would soon lead the F&PM toward an entirely different kind of vessel. After the railroad’s first carferry, Pere Marquette, entered service in 1897, the Black Boats did not disappear immediately. In fact, the railroad rebuilt F&PM No. 5 in 1898, adding passenger cabins for service between Ludington and Milwaukee. When the Flint & Pere Marquette became part of the new Pere Marquette Railway in 1900, the vessel continued in the fleet and was renamed Pere Marquette 5.

The old freighter eventually passed through several owners and charter arrangements. She was chartered to Graham & Morton Transportation Co. in 1906, sold to Barry Brothers Transportation Co. in 1907 and later returned to the Pere Marquette Line Steamers. In 1916, after more than a quarter-century on the Great Lakes, the vessel was sold to the Nova Scotia Steamship Co. She left the lakes and was renamed Anzac.

Her career ended far from Ludington. On March 11, 1917, the former F&PM No. 5 foundered in the Atlantic Ocean off Nantucket Island while carrying lumber to New York. No lives were lost. The largest of Ludington’s original Black Boats had survived nearly 27 years and traveled far beyond the Lake Michigan route for which she had originally been built.

F&PM No. 5 represented the ultimate development of the railroad’s break-bulk fleet: bigger, more powerful and capable of carrying tremendous quantities of freight. But building a larger package freighter could not solve the underlying problem of transferring cargo by hand. The solution would come from carrying the railroad cars themselves across Lake Michigan — and another Michigan railroad would prove that it could be done.

Coming in Part 6: The railroad carferry is born, and the F&PM begins planning a new era of cross-lake transportation from Ludington.

Experience the stories of Ludington's cross-lake railroad steamers at the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Written by Rob Alway, Mason County Historical Society director and editor-in-chief of Mason County Press.





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09/03/2026

Captain of the pig boat: From Ludington steamers to the Christopher Columbus

This Great Lakes History Log is presented by Filer Credit Union, the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum and Sable Points Media. Masters of the PM Steamers By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief At 4:30 p.m. Saturday, June 30, 1917, the Goodrich Transportation Company excursion steamer Christopher Columbus pre...

09/03/2026

Part 4: The Black Boat fleet grows

By the middle of the 1880s, the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway’s decision to operate its own Lake Michigan steamship fleet was proving successful. F&PM No. 1 and F&PM No. 2 had entered service in 1882 and were lengthened the following year to handle increasing traffic. As business grew, the railroad needed larger vessels capable of carrying more freight and significantly more passengers across Lake Michigan.

The result was F&PM No. 3, another Frank E. Kirby design ordered through Detroit Dry Dock Company. Laid down in the fall of 1886, the wooden propeller was constructed by Linn & Craig at Gibraltar, Mich., under subcontract to Detroit Dry Dock. The vessel was launched April 1, 1887. At about 187 feet long, 34.5 feet wide and 12.4 feet deep, No. 3 was substantially larger than the railroad’s first two steamers and measured about 924 gross tons.

The new vessel was also considerably more elaborate. F&PM No. 3 was licensed to carry about 200 passengers, compared with accommodations for only a small number aboard the original Nos. 1 and 2. Her passenger spaces included walnut furnishings, plush upholstery and decorative oil lamps, reflecting the fact that the Black Boats were not merely freight carriers. They also competed for passenger business on the overnight crossing between Michigan and Wisconsin.

Capt. John W. Duddleson, who had commanded F&PM No. 2 and had become an important figure in the railroad’s Ludington marine department, oversaw construction of No. 3 and became her first master. In 1888 Duddleson transferred to another new vessel, F&PM No. 4, while Capt. John W. Stewart took command of No. 3. The movement of experienced captains from one new vessel to another illustrated how rapidly the railroad’s marine operation was expanding.

F&PM No. 4 followed in 1888. Also designed by Kirby and built by Detroit Dry Dock Company at Wyandotte, she closely resembled No. 3. At about 187 feet in length and approximately 941 gross tons, she was another large wooden passenger and package-freight propeller. Both vessels were powered by compound steam engines and two Scotch boilers, giving the railroad two much larger ships for its principal cross-lake routes.

With Nos. 3 and 4 in service, the railroad reorganized its fleet. The newer vessels were generally assigned to the Ludington-Manistee-Milwaukee trade, while Nos. 1 and 2 increasingly operated between Ludington and Manitowoc, with occasional trips to Milwaukee and South Chicago. Barreled salt produced at Ludington and Manistee became an important westbound cargo. By this period, large numbers of men worked along the Ludington waterfront handling the enormous volume of freight moving between railroad cars, warehouses and the Black Boats.

The careers of Nos. 3 and 4 continued beyond the Flint & Pere Marquette era. When the Pere Marquette Railway succeeded the F&PM, the ships became Pere Marquette 3 and Pere Marquette 4. By then, however, railroad carferries were rapidly replacing break-bulk steamers. The Pere Marquette Railway added Pere Marquette 17 in 1901, Pere Marquette 18 in 1902 and Pere Marquette 19 and Pere Marquette 20 in 1903. In 1903, Nos. 2, 3 and 4 were sold to Manistee businessman Gus Kitzinger, who organized the Manistee, Ludington & Milwaukee Transportation Company, commonly known as the Pere Marquette Line Steamers.

The two former Black Boats continued operating for years afterward. On March 7, 1920, Pere Marquette 3 became caught in heavy ice off Ludington and settled by the stern. She was raised and taken to Manitowoc, where inspection revealed severe damage to her wooden hull. Declared a constructive total loss, her machinery was removed and the hull was ultimately burned. Pere Marquette 4 survived until May 15, 1923, when she collided in dense fog with the steel carferry Pere Marquette 17 about 25 miles northeast of Milwaukee. Her damaged hull later became the clubhouse of the Columbia Yacht Club in Chicago before being taken into Lake Michigan in 1937, burned and sunk.

Nos. 3 and 4 demonstrated how rapidly the F&PM’s cross-lake business had grown since the arrival of the railroad at Ludington in 1874. Larger, more comfortable and capable of carrying far more freight and passengers than the original Black Boats, they represented the mature form of the railroad’s break-bulk steamship operation. But even greater capacity was needed, and the F&PM would soon add another large Black Boat to its growing fleet.

Coming in Part 5: F&PM No. 5 and the continuing expansion of Ludington’s railroad steamship fleet.

Experience the stories of Ludington's cross-lake railroad steamers at the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Written by Rob Alway, Mason County Historical Society director and editor-in-chief of Mason County Press.





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09/02/2026

Part 3: The F&PM builds its own fleet

By 1882, the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway had spent seven years relying on chartered and contracted steamers to move freight and passengers across Lake Michigan. The Goodrich Transportation Company had provided dependable service, but the railroad’s cross-lake business had grown to the point where F&PM officials decided they wanted greater control over schedules, costs and operations. The answer was to build a marine fleet of their own.

For its first two vessels, the railroad turned to Detroit Dry Dock Company and naval architect Frank E. Kirby, the same designer who had created the new City of Milwaukee, Michigan and Wisconsin for Goodrich. Kirby designed two nearly identical wooden propellers, F&PM No. 1 and F&PM No. 2. Built as Detroit Dry Dock hull Nos. 59 and 60, the vessels entered service from Ludington in 1882 and became the foundation of the railroad-owned fleet.

The new steamers were built primarily for the F&PM’s freight business, although they also carried passengers. Cargo arriving in Ludington still had to be removed from railroad cars and transferred aboard the vessels by hand. Grain could be carried in the holds, while barrels, crates and other package freight were stowed between decks. Their dark-painted hulls helped give the F&PM vessels the nickname “Black Boats,” a name that would become associated with the railroad’s package-freight fleet.

The railroad’s traffic expanded so quickly that both vessels were enlarged almost immediately. In 1883, F&PM No. 1 and F&PM No. 2 were lengthened by approximately 36 feet, 8 inches, greatly increasing their carrying capacity. Surviving Detroit Dry Dock drawings document the alterations and provide an unusually detailed record of the first vessels built specifically for the F&PM’s Ludington marine operation.

The arrival of the two ships allowed the railroad to end its contract with Goodrich in 1883 and assume direct control of its cross-lake service. There was an interesting irony in the transition. Goodrich had only recently invested heavily in three advanced steamers designed by Kirby for its railroad business. Within a short time, Kirby had designed the vessels that helped the F&PM replace Goodrich. The railroad now had the beginnings of its own marine department, complete with its own captains, engineers and crews.

The two vessels remained important members of the Ludington fleet as the railroad expanded service to Milwaukee, Manitowoc and other Lake Michigan ports. F&PM No. 1 was initially commanded by Capt. James B. Muir, while Capt. John W. Duddleson became closely associated with F&PM No. 2. As traffic increased during the 1880s, the railroad added larger package-freight steamers, but Nos. 1 and 2 continued working alongside them.

By the 1890s, however, the limitation of the Black Boat system was becoming impossible to ignore. Every shipment still had to be unloaded from one railroad car, carried aboard a steamer, transported across Lake Michigan and then loaded into another railroad car. A new type of vessel offered a much more efficient solution: the railroad carferry, capable of carrying the loaded freight cars themselves across the lake.

F&PM No. 1 was sold in 1896 as the railroad prepared for the arrival of its first purpose-built carferry, Pere Marquette. The old steamer later became Wisconsin and eventually ended her working life as a barge. In 1934, she was towed near Green Island in Green Bay, burned and allowed to sink. F&PM No. 2 remained with the railroad longer, becoming Pere Marquette 2 after the creation of the Pere Marquette Railway in 1900. She was sold in 1903 as the railroad rapidly expanded its steel carferry fleet. Later renamed Dundurn and converted into a barge, she foundered in a Lake Erie gale near Ashtabula, Ohio, on July 15, 1919, with the loss of two men.

The careers of F&PM No. 1 and F&PM No. 2 marked the beginning of Ludington’s railroad-owned steamship fleet. They replaced the contracted Goodrich service, established the Black Boat era and helped build the cross-lake traffic that would eventually demand an entirely new generation of vessels.

Photo 1: F&PM No. 1
Photo 2: F&PM No. 2

Coming in Part 4: The F&PM expands the Black Boat fleet with larger steamers.

Experience the stories of Ludington's cross-lake railroad steamers at the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Written by Rob Alway, Mason County Historical Society director and editor-in-chief of Mason County Press.



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09/01/2026

Last week Tom Sawyer - the builder of our incredible P.M. 22 model - donated photos showing the building of the model. This amazing piece of craftsmanship is on display on our first floor for you to check out today! Want to see more models? Check out our Age of Sail and Age of Steam exhibits! ⛵

Get your tickets online at masoncountymihistory.org

09/01/2026

Part 2: The Goodrich years

After only one season using the chartered steamer John Sherman, the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway recognized that its growing cross-lake business required a larger and more dependable marine operation. In 1876, the railroad shifted its principal Wisconsin connection from Sheboygan to Milwaukee and contracted with the Goodrich Transportation Company to handle passengers and freight between Ludington and the western shore of Lake Michigan.

Goodrich was already one of the best-known passenger and package-freight operators on Lake Michigan. During the next several years, vessels including De Pere, Corona, Oconto, Alpena and City of Ludington were among the steamers used in connection with the F&PM trade. The arrangement allowed the railroad to expand its western connections without assuming the expense of building and operating its own fleet.

The system still depended on break-bulk freight handling. Railroad cars arriving at Ludington were unloaded at the waterfront, where their contents were transferred aboard the Goodrich steamers. Once the vessels reached Milwaukee, the freight was unloaded again and placed aboard connecting railroad cars. It was a labor-intensive process, but it gave the F&PM a direct route into Wisconsin and helped establish Ludington as a major cross-lake shipping port.

By 1881, the railroad traffic had become important enough that Goodrich invested in three new iron-hulled steamers. The company turned to Detroit Dry Dock Company and naval architect Frank E. Kirby, who would become one of the most influential ship designers in Great Lakes history. Kirby designed the sidewheel steamer City of Milwaukee and the propeller steamers Michigan and Wisconsin, vessels intended in large part to strengthen Goodrich’s railroad-related service across Lake Michigan.

The City of Milwaukee, launched in February 1881, was about 231 feet long and combined an iron hull with traditional sidewheel propulsion. The nearly identical Michigan and Wisconsin, launched later that year, were screw-propelled steamers measuring more than 200 feet in length. They were designed for heavy Lake Michigan service and incorporated reinforced bows intended to improve their performance in ice, an increasingly important consideration as railroads sought dependable year-round transportation.

The three vessels also demonstrated how important the railroad trade had become to Goodrich. They combined substantial freight capacity with passenger accommodations and represented a significant investment in modern Great Lakes steamship design. Their careers, however, would take an unexpected turn. Even as Goodrich was introducing its new Kirby-designed vessels, the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway was preparing to take greater control of its own marine transportation.

In 1882, the F&PM turned to the same shipyard and the same naval architect. Frank Kirby would design two new steamers specifically for the railroad, beginning the era of the F&PM-owned “Black Boats.” The railroad’s relationship with Goodrich soon came to an end, and Ludington entered the next stage of its cross-lake maritime history.

Photo 1: SS Wisconsin
Photo 2: SS City of Ludington
Photo 3: Capt. Albert Goodrich, founder of Goodrich Transportation Co.

Coming in Part 3: The Flint & Pere Marquette builds F&PM No. 1 and F&PM No. 2 and creates a steamship fleet of its own.

Experience the stories of Ludington's cross-lake railroad steamers at the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Written by Rob Alway, Mason County Historical Society director and editor-in-chief of Mason County Press.



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08/31/2026

Part 1: The railroad reaches Ludington

Long before railroad carferries became one of Ludington’s defining industries, the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway was looking for a way to extend its reach beyond the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The railroad had been built westward across the Lower Peninsula from the Saginaw Valley, opening new markets for lumber, agricultural products and other freight while connecting communities across Michigan.

The F&PM reached Ludington in late 1874, completing its main line to Lake Michigan on Dec. 1. Ludington’s location offered the railroad something an inland western terminus could not: direct access to Wisconsin and the rapidly developing rail network west of Lake Michigan. Rather than send freight south through the congested rail routes around Chicago, the F&PM could move it directly across the lake.

That concept made Ludington an important part of the railroad’s strategy almost from the moment the tracks arrived. The railroad developed docks and freight-handling facilities along the harbor and began preparing for a marine connection. The goal was not simply to bring trains to Ludington. It was to make Ludington the eastern end of a transportation corridor extending across Lake Michigan and into Wisconsin.

At the time, there was no practical system in place at Ludington for carrying railroad cars themselves across the lake. Freight arriving by train had to be unloaded from the cars and transferred aboard a steamer. After reaching Wisconsin, the process was repeated in reverse, with the cargo moved from the vessel into another set of railroad cars. This break-bulk system required considerable labor, but it allowed the railroad to reach markets far beyond the end of its own tracks.

Only six months after the railroad reached Ludington, that plan became reality. On May 31, 1875, the F&PM inaugurated cross-lake service between Ludington and Sheboygan, Wis. For the new route, the railroad chartered the wooden sidewheel steamer John Sherman, placing Capt. John W. Stewart in command.

The John Sherman was already an experienced Great Lakes vessel by the time she came to Ludington. Built at Cleveland, Ohio, by Peck & Kirby in 1865, she had been constructed for the United States Revenue Cutter Service and was commissioned in 1866. Measuring about 172 feet in length, the wooden sidewheeler was powered by a walking-beam steam engine and served the federal government on the Great Lakes until 1871. Sold into commercial service in 1872, she later operated on northern Lake Huron routes before being chartered by the F&PM. After her single season in the Ludington trade, John Sherman returned to commercial service and was eventually stripped of her machinery and converted into a lumber barge before being scrapped in 1893.

Under Stewart, John Sherman carried passengers, grain and package freight across Lake Michigan, where shipments could connect with the Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railway and continue westward. The arrangement demonstrated that Ludington could serve as a gateway between Michigan railroads and the growing transportation network of Wisconsin and the upper Midwest.

The John Sherman remained in F&PM service for only the 1875 season. The railroad soon needed greater capacity and a more extensive steamship operation than a single chartered vessel could provide. In 1876, the F&PM turned to one of the largest passenger and freight operators on Lake Michigan, beginning the next chapter in Ludington’s cross-lake history.

Coming in Part 2: The Goodrich Transportation Company takes over the F&PM’s Lake Michigan service.

Experience the stories of Ludington's cross-lake railroad steamers at the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Written by Rob Alway, Mason County Historical Society director and editor-in-chief of Mason County Press.



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08/29/2026

Join the Mason County Historical Society for a night 50 years in the making! 🎉

On Saturday, September 26, we're gathering at the historic Stearns Hotel Ballroom to celebrate 50 Years of Historic White Pine Village, now the largest living history museum on the west side of Michigan.

Expect great food, Mason County trivia, live and silent auctions, historical costumes, games, music, and dancing. You don't have to be a history buff to have a blast!

Tickets are $75 and include dinner plus an entry into our Mystery Cultural Attraction Door Prize drawing.

Purchase your tickets at: tickettailor.com/events/masoncountyhistoricalsociety/2161889?date=2026-09-26

08/28/2026

Freighter Friday Feature: Beckoning Beacons

Before radar and GPS, sailors on the Great Lakes relied on the steady glow of a lighthouse to guide them safely home. These beacons stood watch through storms, fog, and the darkest nights, warning ships away from danger and welcoming them back to port.

This Freighter Friday, we're featuring the Beckoning Beacons exhibit at the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum. Explore the history of the lighthouses and keepers who protected sailors along Michigan's coastline and helped make safe passage possible.

The exhibit shines a light on the tools, stories, and dedication of the men and women who kept the beacons burning, often in isolation and always in service of others.

Visit the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum this Friday and save $5 on regular admission as part of America's 250th Celebration.

📅 Every Friday through Labor Day Weekend
🎟️ Save $5 on Regular Admission Fridays only
*Museum Discovery Passes are excluded from this promotion.