The steamers Columbia  and Ste. Claire represent 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 and Ste. Claire  are the last two remaining classic excursion steamers in the country; and the last essentially unaltered passenger ships designed by Frank E. Kirby; and for their essentially unaltered propulsion machinery of a type becoming increasingly rare ; as the two last vessels of the Detroit and Windsor Ferry Co.; as two of the few surviving vessels built by the Detroit Dry Dock Company, and for their 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. Columbia and her running-mate Ste. Claire  are the last two steamers of their type with integrity left in the United States. The pair shared their original run from Detroit to Bob-Lo Island for 81 years, a record of service on a single run unequalled in U. S. maritime history.

Columbia is docked at the Great Lakes Steel dock in Ecorse Michigan where she has been laid up since 1991.  The Steamer Columbia Foundation had a goal of returning the ship to service on the Detroit river by 2002, sadly that effort was unsuccessful. In 2002 I formed the non-profit 501c 3 group The Friends of the Bob-Lo Boat Columbia in an effort to keep Columbia in Detroit and return her to service.  On January 8, 2003 the National Trust Loan staff and the National Trust Loan Committee voted to consider a New York maritime preservation group. This groups plan is to restore her and return her to service on the Hudson River in New York.  Late 2003, The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy announces proposal to return her to service on the Detroit river pending a feasibility study which was conducted in 2004. After looking into the possibilities of running the Columbia as a money making tour boat in the Detroit River the conservancy's board last month voted to end its support for the boat. Summer 2006 the New York group "The Columbia project acquires the Columbia and plans to move her to New York for service on the Hudson River.  She is still in her slip located in Ecorse as of 10-23-10 where work is being performed to ready her for her trip to New York.  You may read more on the S.S. Columbia Project web site.

Ste. Claire is currently docked in Ecorse Michigan where she is in the third year of her restoration by volunteers and the Maximus Corporation.