PM 17 visits Detroit, Aug. 21, 1901
This Great Lakes History Log is presented by Filer Credit Union and the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
Editor’s note: I think one my favorite things about researching and writing about local history is solving mysteries. The photograph accompanying this story is a perfect example. This photo gives out a lot of information and the photographer is to be commended for his composition tells the story that solves the mystery. It is clearly some sort of event featuring the Pere Marquette 17 carferry. It is also clearly not in Ludington. The clue that gives it away is the river ferry in the background. On the Great Lakes, the river ferries operated on the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, and on the St. Clair River between Port Huron and Sarnia, Ontario.
It is the Pere Marquette 17 arriving in Detroit on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 1901. Solving the first part of the mystery of where this photo was taken was fairly easy. It was taken in Detroit.
A quick search on Newspapers.com found an Aug. 20, 1901 article in the Detroit Free Press inviting the public to inspect the newly built Pere Marquette 17 as it made its way from the ship yard to Ludington. Mystery solved!
On a side note, this is one of my favorite carferry photos. As a photographer, who learned my skills shooting black and white film and developing it in the darkroom, I just think this is an amazing photograph. It is well-composed, sharp, has great contrast and tells a story. And, it was taken in 1901!
This photo is part of the thousands of images that are in the Mason County Historical Society’s Rose Hawley Archives.
On Wednesday, Aug. 21, 1901, the newly constructed Pere Marquette 17 arrived in Detroit for a public inspection. Construction of the 338-foot-long ship had been completed at American Ship Building Company’s Globe Works in Cleveland, Ohio and it was on its way to Ludington, its home port.
Capt. Peter Kilty
An article in the Tuesday, Aug. 20, 1901 edition of the Detroit Free Press invited the public to view the new boat:
“MOST MODERN OF HER KIND,” the headline read. “PERE MARQUETTE 17 WILL ARRIVE AT DETROIT WEDNESDAY; PUBLIC INVITED TO INSPECT THE NEW BOAT; ROUTE WILL BE FROM LUDINGTON TO MANITOWOC.”
“The public of Detroit, on Wednesday morning, will be given an opportunity to inspect the most modern and up-to-date car ferry on the great lakes.
“‘Pere Marquette 17,’ the latest ferry of the Pere Marquette railroad, built at the Cleveland yards of the American Shipbuilding company, will arrive in this city at 10 o’clock and tie up at the dock of the Northern Steamship company, foot of First street, in order to allow those who wish to see the new boat an opportunity to look her over. She will be in port about six hours and will then proceed to Lake Michigan where she will be placed on the route between Ludington and Manitowoc.
“The new boat is 350 feet in length over all, 56 feet beam and 19 feet 6 inches molded depth. Her power consists of two triple-expansion directing jet-condensing engines, with cylinders of 19, 31 and 52 inches diameter and 36 inches stroke, with an indicated horsepower of 3,500. Steam is supplied by four Scotch-type boilers, each 13 feet 9 inches in diameter and 12 feet long, carrying a working pressure of 175 pounds to the square inch.
“Four tracks traverse her main deck which will accommodate 30 standard-sized freight cars. Her cabin is provided with all up-to-date improvements, and the staterooms will accommodate 300 passengers.
“The entire vessel is of steel and the hull is heavily reinforced in order to permit the boat to combat the heavy ice which she will encounter in winter.
“Among the equipments of the ferry are two 11-inches lens searchlights.”
The Pere Marquette Railway was formally created on Jan. 1, 1900, a consolidation of the Flint & Pere Marquette, the Chicago & West Michigan and the Detroit Grand Rapids & Western. With the formation of the new railway came William L. Mercereau, who had been superintendent of steamships for the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway, which had been operating operating cross-lake freight service since 1875 and had been operating car ferries since the introduction of the SS Pere Marquette (later known as the Pere Marquette 15) in 1897.
The PM 17 was the first of the Pere Marquette Railway’s carferries and was among four new ships ordered by Mercereau. The other vessels included Pere Marquette (PM) 18 in 1902, and PM 19 and PM 20 in 1903.
The four new ferries differed from one another only in passenger accommodations and in engine details. They were each 338 feet long, 56 feet wide and had a depth of 19.5 feet.
The PM 17’s first master was Capt. Peter Kilty. Kilty started with the F&PMRR on March 20, 1898, commanding the Pere Marquette. Prior to working for the F&PM, Kilty had spent the previous two years as captain of the Ann Arbor No. 1, the first Lake Michigan carferry, which was operated by the Ann Arbor Railroad. The 260-foot-long wooden Ann Arbor No. 1 began service in November 1892 and operated between Frankfort/Elberta and Kewaunee, Wis.
In November 1902, Kilty would take command of the PM fleet’s new flagship, the Pere Marquette 18. Eight years later, Kilty would go down with his ship when the PM 18 sank offshore of Sheboygan, Wis. Capt. Joseph Russell, who had been the master of the Pere Marquette, proceeded Kilty and was in command of the 17 when it rescued crew and passengers from the sinking 18 on Sept. 10, 1910.
The Pere Marquette 17 was sold to the Michigan State Ferries in 1940. Renamed the City of Petoskey, it ferried train cars, automobiles and passengers between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace on the Straits of Mackinac until 1959 when it was sold to K&K Truck Trailer Services of Montague and then sold for scrap in 1961.
SS City of Petoskey, at St. Ignace, Aug. 21, 1945.
Filer Credit Union with offices in Manistee, Ludington, East Lake, and Bear Lake; filercu.com; 800.595.6630
The Mason County Historical Society is a non-profit charitable organization that was founded in 1937 that does not receive any governmental funding. It owns and operates the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum in Ludington, Historic White Pine Village in Pere Marquette Township, and The Rose Hawley Archives and the Mason County Emporium and Sweet Shop in downtown Ludington.
For more information about donating to and/or joining the Mason County Historical Society, visit masoncountymihistory.org.
_______________________________
Please consider making a one-time contribution to help support MCP.
Please Support Local News and Sports Coverage
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
To sign up, email editor@mediagroup31.com. In the subject line write: Subscription. Please supply your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number (indicate cell phone). We will not share your information with any outside sources. For more than one email address in a household, the cost is $15 per month per email address.
We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
Payment must be made in advance prior to subscription activation.
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2025, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
.png)
