About the below photograph: Historic photograph currently held in the Detroit Public Library of the Steamer Columbia, circa 1905. The SS Columbia was one of three riverboats used from various ports along the Michigan, Ohio and Ontario shores from 1906-1991 to ferry passengers to Bois Blanc, aka Bob-lo Island, and amusment park that sat in the on the Canadian side of the Detroit River, and operated from 1898 to 1993. A great joy of my childhood was our annual trip to Bob-lo Island, which started with a 45-minute steamer ride from Wyandotte, MI to Bois Blanc abord the Columbia or Sainte Claire. We could also see these great boats passing all summer from the Lake Erie Shores. Allthough my memory of these rides is fuzzy, I remember the excitement of seeing the great ship approaching the dock , of seeing the boatmen heave the monstrous docking ropes over to shore, and of trying to be the first kid to race up to the third floor of the ship. While the Sainte Claire has been slowly restored and renovated over the last few years, Columbia has remained docked in Ecorse, MI (outside of Detroit) since 1993, unprotected most of that time. ng faculty and research groups: