Alfred Mitchel

Alfred Mitchel Built - 1900 270 ft. x 40 ft. x 25 ft. The Great Lakes freighter Alfred Mitchel was built in 1900 in the Langell Shipyard on the Pine River in St. Clair. In October 1917, the vessel was sold to J.M. Scott of Mobile, Alabama and taken to the Atlantic Coast for use in the war effort of World War I. She was shortened by cutting her fantail back to the rudder post for the canal passages. In July 1919, the Mitchel was sold to Belgian owners and renamed Ile de la Reunion.

As you walked south from the “Starting Point” plaque to this location on the St. Clair River Boardwalk, the brass plaque marked Alfred Mitchel on the boardwalk represents the bow of the Great Lakes freighter Alfred Mitchel.  The brass plaque at the Starting Point represents the stern or back of every ship included in this walking tour. By looking back to the starting point, you are able to get an estimate of the size or 270 ft. length of the Alfred Mitchel.

St. Clair, by Charles Homberg, St. Clair Historical Commission, 2007; St. Clair Historical Museum and Research Center archives; Great Lakes Ships data base, Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Alpena, Michigan; Great Lakes Freighters by Rand Shackleton, Thunder Bay Press, 2003.