Toledo: 'The Queen Of The Lakes'

Jamie, who is from Toledo, said to me, “what do people do with their children here?”

Admittedly, we are staying in Michigan, about 20 minutes from Toledo, in the countryside and don’t have immediate access to a car.

But even with wheels, what is there beyond the obvious of parks, pools, libraries, sports etc?

In terms of outings, we had to dig deep and headed downtown, to Toledo’s ‘Frog Pond’, where the SS Willis B Boyer is docked.

It turned out to be a worthwhile move.

Next summer (2011) marks the 100th year since the bulk freighter was first built. At that time it was the largest in the world and named Col. James M. Schoonmaker.

It’s an interesting way to spend an hour, with access to the living quarters for the crew and captain, the engine rooms, diesel and electric generators, galleys, cargo holds etc. You really get a feel for how large these boats are and what life was like on it.

Once labelled ‘The Queen of the Lakes’, the boat has been out of service since 1986, when it was sold to the city of Toledo to be used as a museum ship.

It is immense – 617ft in length, 33ft in depth and weighing 8,600 tons when empty and 23,600 when full to capacity.

But if you think that is big – and it is – there is apparently a German ocean liner SIX times larger!

Admission prices: $6 for adults, free for children. There is ample free parking.

Comments

[Bill Moss]

Later, new technology allowed for ships much bigger than the Schoonmaker/Boyer, which for its day was a monster. But there was a limit on how big a Great Lakes ship could be: it had to be able to pass through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The Edmund Fitzgerald (built in 1958), was in its moment, the largest lake ship that could still pass the St. Lawrence's locks. Unfortunately, it didn't last long, but fully loaded, broke up in a gale and sank in 1975. Gordon Lightfoot commemorated that in song in 1976: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0DqPSF2fyo