''City of Detroit III'', often referred to as just ''D-III'', was a sidewheel steamer on the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

and

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

. She was one of the largest sidewheelers on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

History

''City of Detroit III'' was built by the

Detroit Shipbuilding Company The Dry Dock Complex consists of six interconnected buildings located at 1801–1803 Atwater Street in Detroit, Michigan, as well as the remains of a nearby dry dock at 1900 Atwater Street. The 1801-1803 Atwater complex is also known as the Globe ...

Wyandotte, Michigan Wyandotte ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and it is part of the coll ...

and was designed by

Frank E. Kirby Frank E. Kirby (July 1, 1849 – August 25, 1929) was a naval architect in the Detroit, Michigan (United States) area in the early 20th century. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest naval architects in American history. Biography Kirb ...

. The interior decorations were designed by painter and architect Louis O. Keil, who collaborated with Kirby on many projects. It was owned by the

Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company, often abbreviated as D&C, was a shipping company on the Great Lakes. Operations The main route was between Detroit, Michigan, and Cleveland, Ohio. Routes also lead to Buffalo, New York with the purchase ...

(D&C) and was launched on October 7, 1911. When she was launched ''City of Detroit III'' was the largest sidewheeler in the world. The next year the slightly larger length overall '' Seeandbee'', another Kirby designed ship, was launched for the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Company (C&B). ''City of Detroit III'' traveled regularly between

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

The "Gothic Room"

''City of Detroit III'' cost $1,500,000 to build ($ in dollars) and was ornately furnished. Forty percent of the steamer's width was situated over the

wheels A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...

, allowing room for many amenities like salons, a

palm court A palm court is a large atrium (architecture), atrium with Arecaceae, palm trees, usually in a prestigious hotel, where functions are staged, notably tea dances. Examples include the Langham Hotel, London, Langham Hotel (1865), Alexandra Palace (1 ...

and a winery to be built into the vessel. One of the rooms was an opulent

smoking room A smoking room (or smoking lounge) is a room which is specifically provided and furnished for smoking, generally in buildings where smoking is otherwise prohibited. Locations and facilities Smoking rooms can be found in public buildings such ...

called the "Gothic Room", named for its

Gothic design Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries i ...

. It was built from

English oak ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widely ...

and included a

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window.

End of service

''City of Detroit III'' was taken out service in 1950, when the D&C discontinued service. She was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

in 1956, and was dismantled. ''City of Detroit III''s "Gothic Room" was disassembled and re-erected in a barn near Cleveland, Ohio, for ten years before it was once again taken down and then partially reassembled and refinished at the

Dossin Great Lakes Museum The Dossin Great Lakes Museum is an historical maritime museum in Detroit, Michigan. Located on The Strand on Belle Isle State Park (Michigan), Belle Isle Park along the Detroit River, this museum places special interest on Detroit's role on nati ...

on Belle Isle in Detroit.

References

Bibliography

* * *

History

The "Gothic Room"

End of service

References

Bibliography

Further reading