City of Erie steamer

Written on the back of this card in pencil is “City of Erie”. This appears to be the name written on the front of the ship. According to Andrew Hibbert, one of our Heritage Port members, she was a 316-foot-long sidewheel steam driven boat, said to be one of the fastest ships on the Great Lakes. Launched in 1898 and she was owned and operated by the Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Company. Hibbert maintained that starting in 1929 she made daily trips between Cleveland and Port Stanley, charging $3.50 for a one-way ticket (we cannot verify this from other sources). She was taken out of service in 1938.