Nicholson Terminal and Dock Company's South Slip
Ecorse, Michigan
Wayne County

Designation and Designation Date

• National Historic Landmark, listed July 6, 1992
• National Register, listed November 2, 1979

Architect, Builder, or Designer(s)

• Frank E. Kirby

Significant Date(s), Notes

• 1902, Columbia entered service on July 8

Significance Statement

The steamer Columbia represents the typical propeller-driven excursion steamer of the turn of the century, a type once found in many parts of the country. Excursion steamers are steamships built primarily for passengers for day trips. Columbia and her running mate Ste. Claire represent the "ocean-going" type of excursion vessel although they were used on lakes. The steamer Columbia is significant as one of the last pair of classic excursion steamers in the country; as one of the two last essentially unaltered ships designed by Frank E. Kirby; as one of the two last vessels of the Detroit and Windsor Ferry Co.; as one of the few surviving vessels built by the Detroit Dry Dock Company, and for its unaltered propulsion machinery, which is of a rare type. Columbia is the oldest passenger steamer in the United States, excepting vessels properly classed as ferries.

For information about any of the programs described on this site, write the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, Michigan Historical Center, P.O. Box 30740, 702 W. Kalamazoo St., Lansing, MI 48909-8240, or call us at (517) 373-1630.