People should not be making assumptions about the island residents. Really sad. A woman leans against the fence in the foreground to take a picture of the ride. Before July 30, 2011, my last visit to Bob-Lo had been in June of 1968. saki, Japan. Neither will my grandchildren. The amusement park was so famous in its day that Henry Ford himself provided money for a Dance Hall to be built, designed by the architect John Scott. From the U.S. (departing from Detroit) your routeto the ferry would looklike this: The ferry boat captain had to take the Detroit Rivers strong current into consideration in maneuvering the ferry boat to the dock. Boblo (or Bob-Lo) sparks memories for many adults who. Page 51", "Historic Boblo boats land role in Transformers 4", "Boblo Island boat owners hopeful for restoring of damaged boat: What's next for the SS Ste Claire? "[2] The Michigan Supreme Court fined the company $25 for the discrimination they presented towards Ray. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. . From 1984 to 1985 there were 26 head injuries and 14 broken bones reported. The 24-year-old Black woman boarded the SS Columbia en route for Boblo Island a Canadian amusement park beloved by Detroiters. The steamers, the Ste. . If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. The park was sold but never got up and running again so all the rides and boats were sold. He wore a variety of colorful clothing, including a large hat with 'Captain Bob Lo' on the peak, and was typically equipped with binoculars for navigation purposes. The place is oozing history. OBSCURIST TOURIST 025 - Boblo Island Amusement Park is an abandoned amusement park which operated from 1898 until its closure on September 30, 1993. Your email address will not be published. Clair and the SS Columbia. Can you go over to the island any time? Given that the island was known as the Boblo Island Amusement Park from 1898 1993, Id say, overall, it was a pretty successful run. Colorful picnic tables near Captain Bob's Ice Cream & Coffee Cabin. Most of the homes on the island also come with a large amount of property. My birthday is coming up, maybe my family can take me to the island. [19] He vaguely proposed a casino, hotel, and other development. On a summer day in 1945, Sarah Elizabeth Ray stood up for something because she wasn't allowed to sit down. Visitors could travel between rides and attractions using a mini railroad. The boat was taken to Toledo on Tuesday. Livingstone writes that the white sand beach was created in 1957 when a vein of sand in the mouth of the river was dredged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as they deepend the Amherstburg Channel to St. Lawrence Seaway standards, opening the Great Lakesto the world.. Interestingly, the islands history starts long before the amusement park was even planned. I know had I been related to this man, I would have kept his memory alive. Such a sad and difficult ending to such a WONDERFUL PLACE. A private community is now being built on the island. I grew up visiting the island and Im hoping to return to explore it again someday. Not a single lot was sold between 9/11 and May 2004. I had the pleasure of delivering a load of stuffed animals to the Park in the early 1990s, was a trip i will never forget, driving my Freightliner truck and a 48 foot trailer onto the wharf to make the trip across the river in the middle of the night over to the island then driving around the the park, having to stop and wait for the park benches to be moved for me to able to get truck and trailer around the turns stopping here and there to off load these stuffed toys into little electric carts for the arcade games before the park opened the next day, Friday of a May 24 weekend. Claire or the Columbia, but no cellphone cameras documented that embarkation and carrying a Kodak Instamatic simply would not have been cool. I just kayaked to Boblo Island today, and I saw so much potential left in this land. Plus it was a place where the 400-pipe, 4-meter high, self-playing orchestra was housed. What a shame, all gone because some mega millionaires wanted more money. I was born and raised in Wyandotte, Michigan. Its entrance is at Vernon Boulevard and Main Street in Astoria. They are 1,405 square feet with a full basement. By each step it became more clear that this was left for dead a long time ago. We dont save anything for history any more. The goal of developers is to someday populate the entire island with neighborhoods. Newly restored in the Spring of 2013 by the residents of the community, they now offer Blockhouse tours on most Sundays from 1pm - 4pm. Private cottages and government property remained at the north and south ends of the island. It was one of the most popular places to dance in the 1920s. In the distance is a building featuring dozens of condos. The existence of such an organization would certainly be complicated by the facts that 1) Bob-Lo is a Canadian island with an overbearing American past, and 2) today Bob-Lo primarily serves asa retreat for the wealthy, who I can imagine would not want people coming to visit the historical remains there,any more than they would want hunters (although if theyown a cat or a small dog, the latter might be welcome if they could take care of the coyote population). I was 7 years old when the ferries stopped running in 1991. If you need help with the Public File, call (313) 222-0566. Boats are docked in the Boblo Island Marina, located on the western shore of the island. You may have more than a few challenges now that people live there, but I wish you the best of luck! The native Wyandot called the island "Etiowiteendannenti.Both the Wyandot and French names refer to the white wood appearance lent by the birch and poplar trees that line the banks. These are some of the many doors leading to the inside of the old Dance Hall. One such an example is Boblo Island Amusement Park initially opened on Bois Blanc Island in Ontario in 1898. BOBLO Island poster. For more than 85 years, the Boblo Island Amusement Park was famous for being served by the Steamer Ste Claire and the Steamer Columbia excursion boats that could hold about 2,500 passengers each. By 1920 the famous amusement ride, the Whip was installed on the island and the first season alone paid for the maintenance and the purchase of the ride. Visiters to the marina can visit the small gallery of photographs and paintings of water scenes or rent bikes to explore the island (although what appeared to be the bike rental building was closed on this July Saturday, so perhaps not). A sign leads residents and visitors to dining venues and the marina on Boblo Island. Its amusement rides were sold in 1994. On that trip, my companions on the Bob-Lo Excursion Line steamer were other ninth graders from Livonias Holmes Junior High. Boblo Island was an amusement park that was open for nearly 100 years. The island was situated between Detroit and Canada, but for a Michigander to visit, you had to cross the Canadian border.usually by one of the Boblo ferry boats. Each historical society serves as a bead on a rosary linking current and future generations to the past, acts as a tool to support prayers of keeping the memories alive, keeps a link to the human roots of a distinctive place that has meant many things to many people over the years. In 1949, the island was threatened by bankruptcy. Its maybe a five-minute ride, no more than 10 minutes with the docking. One cant imagine a happy centennial celebration for this historic building . The passageway still exists showing Gilbraltar, Michigan to the left and Amherstburg, Ontario to the right. "We are at the point in restoration to where it was a steel skeleton structure ready to be rebuilt." It is so cool to see the old dock piers and the beach is sand. Its a shame that Boblo Island had to close. Once a landmark amusement park, Boblo Island is ready to essentially triple its current population through a new. The park was located on Bois Blanc Island, Ontario. After coming aboard, visitors could look down from the main deck into the engine room, where powerful shafts and cams slowly warmed up. Anyone . The Boblo boat took passengers on an 18-mile cruise down the Detroit river to Boblo Island Amusement Park. You do it for other people. I am only 12. Once the island closed, the boats sat abandoned for years. Gloomy days sometimes deserve black and white treatment. The park has been closed since 1993 DETROIT - Say the name "Boblo" to anyone who grew up around Michigan, and their eyes will light up. Ray was removed from the boat because she was not white, enforced according to a Bob-Lo company policy "excluding so-called 'zoot-suiters', the rowdyish, the rough, and the boisterous, and it also adopted the policy of excluding colored. Though many of the amusement park structures have been torn down, you might still hear a passing. For many in this part of Michigan, this boat resides in fond memories of trips to Boblo Island. I would make sure my friends knew all the history of Bob-Lo. [24] The island was off limits to non-residents until 2002. As a child I went to Bob-Lo Island every summer from the Detroit Side of the island. The Boblo Island amusement park closed in the 1990s after a century of operation. 10. Departing from the foot of Woodward Avenue, whereHart Plazais now, theColumbiaandSte. Following the war, British forces garrisoned at Fort Malden in Amherstburg, across the river from Bois Blanc, and strengthened their position by building three blockhouses on the island. While incapacitated in hospital, he lost legal control of island. The Bois Blanc Lighthouse built in 1836; its lamp room was destroyed in 1954 when vandals started a fire. It broke my heart to see the way everything looks these days. [2], Though it was not looking for a buyer, the Michigan AAA sold Boblo Island in 1988 to the International Broadcasting Corporation, a Minneapolis-based concern that owned the Harlem Globetrotters and Ice Capades. In 1958 the island was the site of joint Canadian-American war games, addressing a hostile force presence with amphibious units from around the Great Lakes. Bleacher seating remains intact in the abandoned theater. Claire, built in 1910. The first amusement park rides were moving by 1910. A new film tells us. Quite disappointing that we never went back, management was doing a terrible job. Not fair to blame millionaires when often it is a corporation that can run out money after 5 or 6 bad years. BOBLO ISLAND AMUSEMENT PARK entertained people from both Canada and USA for 96 YEARS ! . It's just a stone's throw from historic Amherstburg, Ontario, which is a 30-minute drive from Windsor. This is private property and the doors are chain locked. The first amusement park rides were moving by 1910. Just read one of the many postcards you can find online from people back in the day. "It's not the exact layout of Boblo Island," Kevin says in the documentary. Remember, the island is in Canada, so you can't just cross over from the U.S. and dock there. By 1742, a French mission among the Hurons was established. After 85 years of operation, these two sister steamships - the oldest in America - awaken from a deep slumber to find a devoted team of enthusiasts have set out to rescue them from their deteriorating state. Is there a safe dock area, in which to leave our boat-(also Draft/depth) info .Is there a dock fee? Claire, which used to take passengers to Boblo Island, sits on the Detroit River in August 2015. [16] Moodenbaugh later sued Benaroya and others for attempting to sell the park while he lay in a "virtual coma". Gone are the roller coasters, but there are plenty of haunting remnants from Boblo Island Amusement Park, which delivered thrills and family fun from 1898 to September 30, 1993. Not one thing mentioned on the dance hall being 100 years old this year. From the top deck of the SS St. Claire, passengers watch the SS Columbia (built in 1902). Sad that it no longer exists. People quit coming in the 1980s, then the money for upkeep is not there. When you disembark from the ferry, youfindyourself adjacent to a private very well-to-do residential area. From 1898 to 1993, the park was a summer staple for Detroit families. Peaking through the windows, you can see it's being used for storage. Its amusement rides were sold in 1994. Why not this man who gave everyone joy in life with their families? The island is mainly a place where people can live in serenity. The back of the 50,000-sq-ft building which was commissioned by Henry Ford and built in 1913. We live on the east shore of Grosse Ile, we would love to take our boat to eat at the restaurant. The park was closed for the 1933-1934 seasons due to the Great Depression. During the Rebellion of 1837, "patriots" from the U.S. invaded the island in 1838. However, due to lack of demand, the park closed in 2001 and never reopened. Only one blockhouse remains today. I wish that the people that bought this island could restore it. Bob-Lo was such a fun place and figures so prominently in many peoples childhood summertime memories! From Queens, you can get there via the Roosevelt Island Bridgethis is the only way to walk or drive onto the island. The price is around $500k. Once built, the dance hall was the second largest in the world, able to accommodate no less than 5,000 dancers. Bois Blanc Island (sometimes referred to as Boblo Island despite complaints from people downstate who are familiar with the Boblo Island Amusement Park in Bois Blanc, Canada, in the Detroit River) is an island in Lake Huron in the southernmost part of Mackinac County. Families need to be brought back together and enjoy their children once again. The tiny island is located in the middle of the East River, parallel to Manhattan's East 46th to 85th Streets. Copyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved. Courtesy of the Detroit Historical Society, Photographer Joe Clark. When was the last time yousailed down the Detroit River toBob-Lo Island, to summertime? I recently visited the island to see that the old Theatre still stands. My twin daughters, now 35, remember, but my son, 28, will never know. The people of Detroit, Michigan, characterized it as the city's Coney Island. The island has quite an interesting history. More than a century later, in the 1920s, the amusement park opened on the sitethen closed in 1966 after the accidental deaths of two young patrons, including one on the spooky circular swing. The 106-year-old classic excursion steamer Ste. I can forward them to you if you would like. To get to Bob-Lo Islandin the 21st century, you takea ferry from Amherstburg, Ontario, instead of from the old dock on Jefferson Avenuein Detroit. It may be under different management than when I had a pretty tasty perch sandwich there, but you can find out more, including their hours at: http://www.boblo.ca/pages/living/restaurant.html, Thank you very much for info. The 18-mile boat ride was carried out by the famous ships: the Columbia, built in 1902, and the Ste. The park has been closed since 1993, but the legend of Boblo is still strong. The ferry is a short four minute ride to the island. Suddenly, without any warning, there was a relatively large mammal in the middle of the trail, directly in the line of my front bike tire. Boblo Island Amusement Park is an abandoned amusement park which operated from 1898 until its closure on September 30, 1993. The park closed in 1993 as a result of poor management and attendance was shrinking because of other parks like Cedar Point. 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