she was one of the most expensive, lavish, and technologically advanced steamers ever built by the Goodrich Steamboat Company, which operated one of the largest and longest-lived shipping lines on the Great Lakes.
The story of the Wisconsin illustrates how Great Lakes shipping was responding to increasing competition from railroads during the latter half of the nineteenth century. She was designed to transport passengers and package freight year-round, as part of a contract with the Flint and Pere Marquette Railway. Her specific role would be running in the lucrative
break-bulk trade
between Ludington, Mich., and Milwaukee.
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The Wisconsin dockside.
Photo courtesy of Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University |
The ship was one of the first iron-hulled vessels that Goodrich built. In changing to iron hulls, Albert Goodrich had to abandon his long-standing friendship with the Burger Boat Yard in Manitowoc, which had built nearly all previous Goodrich vessels. The Burger Yard was not yet equipped to build with iron, and the contract for the three iron hulls went to the progressive Detroit Dry Dock Company in Wyandotte, Mich. The Wisconsin was built for $159,212, two-and-one-half times the cost of comparable wooden vessels built by Burger. Henry Ford served as a machinist’s apprentice at the Detroit Dry Dock Company from 1879 to 1882, making it likely that he helped build the Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin and her identical sister ship, the Michigan, were two of the most innovative vessels on the Great Lakes. They had a rounded
forefoot
, designed to ride up on and crush thick Lake Michigan ice. They also had a double iron bottom with a water ballast system. Three feet deep and equipped with a steam pump, this “double bottom” could be filled with water to steady the vessel when running light or with a heavy deck load. The Wisconsin and Michigan were the first Great Lakes vessels with decks made of iron rather than wood.
Following her launch, the Wisconsin was taken to Milwaukee to have her cabins installed and get her final fitting out. By the end of December 1881, the Wisconsin was employed carrying rail freight and passengers across Lake Michigan, eliminating the long rail route around southern Lake Michigan and the chokepoint of Chicago.
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