1856                                        Western Metropolis                        1864

Wooden sidewheel Great Lakes passenger and package freight vessel

Built at Buffalo NY by Bidwell & Banta
Launched April 23, 1856

340’ LOA, 40’ beam, 30’ depth
1 deck, coal-fired boilers, low pressure vertical beam engine,
Engine from str. Empire State of 1848

Enrolled at Detroit MI Oct 1, 1856 (115)
321’10” x 39’10” x 14’2”, 1861 20/95 tons     to:
Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Rail Road Co.,  (home port Monroe MI)

In service between Buffalo NY and Toledo OH with strs. Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana

Laid up late in the 1857 season because of the Panic of 1857.  By the time the economy recovered, the railroad lines had been completed around the lower end of Lake Erie and the large vessels of her type were no longer needed.

Engine removed and shipped to New York NY for installation in ocean str. Western Metropolis under construction. 

Rebuilt to bark 1863 at Buffalo NY by F. N. Jones
Remeasured to 273’ x 39’7” x 12’11”, 1341.44 tons

Driven ashore and wrecked Oct 8, 1864 off Calumet IL, Lake Michigan in storm

W058