The passenger steamer SS Columbia is heading toward New York!  The goal is to restore the historic steamer, built in 1902, and to put her in service on the  Hudson River.  SS Columbia is the oldest surviving passenger steamship in the United States and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The SS Columbia has been towed from the Detroit River to the a drydock in Toldeo in preparation for the journey next year up the St. Lawrence and then down the Atlantic Coast to New York for the rest of her restoration.

Until 1991 when it was laid up, SS Columbia, the steamer operated for many years on the Detroit River from downtown Detroit to Bois Blanc Island, a Canadian island that was home to an amusement park, built as a destination for SS Columbia and other steamers.  Built in Wyandotte, Michigan, SS Columbia was designed by the naval architect Frank Kirby, working with Louis O. Keil, an interior designer and architect. The ship was the first  passenger steamer to have a full ballroom and her design influenced the designs of many other steamers of the period.

The SS Columbia was also the site of an important though largely forgotten event in US history. A decade before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus because of her race, Sara Elizabeth Ray, a young black woman was refused passage on the Columbia.  In 1945, Ms. Ray and her white classmates were celebrating graduation from a federally-funded secretarial program by taking a trip to Bois Blanc Island, or Boblow Island, as it was called.  She boarded the SS Columbia but was forced to leave by employees of the Bob-Lo Excursion Company. Ms. Ray sued the company with the support of the local NAACP.  The case went to the US Supreme Court, which ruled in Ms. Ray’s favor, signaling a willingness to protect the civil rights of African-Americans. The case helped to pave the way for the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education.

The 501(c)(3) non-profit SS Columbia Project (SSCP) acquired  SS Columbia in 2006 for restoration and operation as a means of revitalizing the communities of the Hudson River Valley through responsible heritage tourism.

From their Mission Statement: The operating Columbia will restore an historic transportation link between New York City and the Hudson River Valley by carrying students and tourists up the Hudson River on day trips, allowing them to enjoy the cultural, natural, and historically important resources of the region.

The vessel will serve as a floating mobile museum and cultural events venue. Educational programming, increased visitor spending, and developing awareness of the Hudson River Valley as a sustainable economic resource that must be protected will directly benefit New York City and all the communities along the Hudson.

Video of SS Columbia when she was in service:

SS Columbia