George H. Russell
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
George H. .Russell Built - 1905 484 ft. x 50 ft. x 28 ft Started by the Columbia Iron Works, the steel-hulled freighter George H. Russell was launched in 1905 into the St. Clair River by Great Lakes Engineering Works. In 1913 she was renamed the Canaopus but continued sailing the Great Lakes. In 1946 the George H. Russell was converted to an auto carrier. The freighter was scrapped in Ashtabula, Ohio in 1962. Her pilot house remains at the Inland Seas Museum in Vermillion, Ohip.
Images
Great Lakes freighter George H. Russell gets ready to take on a load of iron ore.
Photo of brass plaque on the Boardwalk for the freighter George H. Russell showing the year built and length.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
As you walked south from the “Starting Point” plaque to this location on the St. Clair River Boardwalk, the brass plaque marked George H. Russell on the boardwalk represents the bow of the Great Lakes freighter George H. Russell. 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 484 ft. length of the George H. Russell.
Sources
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.