Steamship Valley Camp
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| S.S. Valley Camp | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
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| Location: | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1917 |
| Architect: | American Shipbuilding Co. |
| Added to NRHP: | February 01, 1972 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 72000606 [1] |
| Governing body: | Private |
The Valley Camp is a Lake freighter that served on the Great Lakes for almost 50 years and is currently serving as a museum ship in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
[edit] History
The steamship Valley Camp was launched in Lorain, OH in 1917 as the Louis W Hill for the National Steel Corporation. She sailed for this company for 38 years hauling iron ore & coal until 1955 when she was sold to the Wilson Marine Transit Company. It was in this fleet that she received her current name, Valley Camp. For this company she carried a wider array of bulk goods including grains & stone. The Valley Camp was only a member of the Wilson Fleet until 1959 when the Republic Steel Corporation bought her and several of her Wilson fleetmates, including her identical sister the Silver Bay (formerly the Albert Heiken of National Steel). Republic kept the Camp's name and for that company she hauled iron ore and coal to their mills in Buffalo, NY; Cleveland, OH & Indiana Harbor, IN. In 1967, the Valley Camp sailed her last. Her age was not an issue at this time, it was her triple expansion engine that was still being fed by coal burning boilers that doomed her to an early retirement.
Purchased by Le Sault de Sainte Marie Historical Sites, Inc. for $10,000, the ship was towed from Wisconsin to Sault Ste. Marie on July 6, 1968, during Sault Ste. Marie's tri-centennial celebration. By donations and grants, volunteer work and much foresight, the Steamship, Valley Camp has become the most distinctive Maritime Museum on the Great Lakes. The museum ship VALLEY CAMP is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as an historic vessel. Visitors have the opportunity to explore and look in every nook and cranny of the great ship. In addition, the huge cargo holds have hundreds of interesting artifacts, paintings, shipwreck items, models and exhibits of objects related to maritime history
[edit] The Ship
The Valley Camp stretches 550 feet overall with a 525 foot keel. Other dimensions of the ship include a beam of 58 feet and a depth of 31 feet. Her gross tonnage capacity is 12000 gross tons. The ship was powered by 1800 horsepower triple expansion reciprocating steam engine which she retains to this day. Never the flagship of the fleet, her quarters were spartan yet comfortable. The crews quarters are lined by wood trim and equipped with simple bunks. The wheelhouse is lined with wood and trimmed by brass. Her original steering wheel is in place. In the stern, her original smokestack, including her double chime whistle are still in place. Almost unmodified from her original configuration, she is the most intact example of the classic Great Lakes ore carriers that once numbered in the hundreds and few of which survive to this day.
 A view of the bow |
 Her steam engine |
 Looking aft to the stack |
[edit] References/External Links
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
- Historical Collections of the Great Lakes-http://digin.bgsu.edu/cgi-win/xvsl.exe
- Museum Ship Valley Camp-http://www.saulthistoricsites.com/
