A TALE OF TWO SHIPS
Captain John Pereue had a dream. A dream of the lakes. A dream of profits. The dream of a ship. By October 9, 1902, his investment group formed the Michigan Steamship Company to take advantage of the demand and need of a day-night steamship route between South Haven, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois to 'overnight' fresh fruit from Michigan's heartland to the thriving markets of Chicago. But another Great Lakes operator, the Dunkley-Williams Steamship Company, also set their sights on this lucrative market and route. And so the race began...

The Superior Shipbuilding Yards in Duluth, Minnesota is typical of an early twentieth century ship building yard. The Jenks Ship Building Company yard was much smaller. This photo shows a large bulk freighter under construction.

Each steamship company wanted to name their brand-new ship 'The City of South Haven'. It was agreed that the first ship to launch would be christened with this name. The Michigan Steamship Company commissioned the Jenks Ship Building Company of Port Huron, Michigan to build their ship on October 7, 1902 for $250,000. Soon afterwards on October 13, Dunkley-Williams signed a contract with the Craig Ship Building Company of Toledo, Ohio to build their ship.

THE JENKS SHIP BUILDING COMPANY
The Jenks Ship Building Company was founded in 1890 by William S. Jenks, who passed away in December 1902. His grandson, Sidney Grant Jenks, would be the architect of the new ship. Jenks was challenged but competent to the task of designing a passenger steamship, a first for their company. The Jenks Ship Building Company generally built barges and bulk freighters.

Certain operating restrictions impacted the design considerations. This ship would typically load in the Black River at South Haven, which had a normal depth of 12 feet. A sand bar which rested 1-1/4 miles into Lake Michigan off South Haven had a typical depth of 12 to 13 feet. It was this requirement led to the design of soon-to-be problematic water ballast system. Since the planned working schedule of the ship included an overnight departure from South Haven, the ship would require a large number of cabins for sleeping accomodations, and be uncommonly fast. Armed with these contractual requirements, Sidney designed a ship intended for 2,000 passengers with sleeping accomodations for 500 and twin-screws for unprecedented speed on the Great Lakes. The Eastland was eventually able to reach speeds slightly over 22 miles an hour which earned her the nickname, "Speed Queen of the Lakes."

Location of the Jenks Ship Building Company yard on the Black River in Port Huron (shown in yellow). Map is circa 1890.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
It soon became apparent that the Dunkley-Williams ship was going to be completed first and entitled them to the contested name. 'The City of South Haven' was launched on March 23, 1903. Disappointed, the Michigan Steamship Company announced a public naming contest for their unnamed steamship. The response was tremendous. After sorting through 565 submissions, the winner was Mrs. David Reid of South Haven. It is not known how or why Mrs. Reid chose the name 'Eastland'. Contest rules limited entries to submissions of American Indian names or names that would project grandeur or luxury, up to 8 letters long. Mrs. Reid won the prize of ten dollars and a season pass on the Eastland. Now so named, the Eastland was christened by Frances Elizabeth Stufflebeam (Mrs. John Pereue) and side-launched in the Black River at 2:30pm on May 6, 1903 before a festive crowd of 6,000 Port Huron residents. After being fitted with her engines and boilers, the Eastland was ready for her maiden voyage at 2:30am on July 16, 1903 with a proud Captain John C. Pereue in command. After calling on Mackinac Island and Manistee, she arrived in South Haven at 4am on July 18th.

The side-launching of the Steamer Edward Y. Townsend at the Superior Ship Yard in Duluth, Minnesota. Side-launching of ships was a common practice on the Great Lakes. Ocean-going vessels are usually stern launched.