Est. 1931 · Great Lakes Carferry · National Historic Landmark · Grand Trunk Western Railroad · Manitowoc Shipbuilding
The SS City of Milwaukee was launched on December 27, 1930, at the Manitowoc Shipbuilding yard in Wisconsin and entered service in early 1931 for the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company. The vessel is 360 feet long with a 56-foot beam and was designed to carry up to 30 loaded railroad freight cars across Lake Michigan between Grand Haven, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is the last of six sister ships of her type and the only pre-1940 Great Lakes railroad carferry to survive.
The vessel served the Grand Trunk Western Railroad until 1978, when service was transferred to the Ann Arbor Railroad, which operated her until 1981. After a brief period out of service, the SS City of Milwaukee was acquired by the Society for the Preservation of the SS City of Milwaukee — a Michigan nonprofit — and moored at 99 Arthur Street in Manistee. She was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000.
Daytime carferry tours run seasonally through late August. The bed-and-breakfast operates from May through early September, with overnight stays in original crew and passenger cabins. The Ghost Ship haunted attraction runs Friday and Saturday evenings in October at 7:30 pm. The vessel is operated by a small staff and a corps of volunteer interpreters; phone reservations are taken at 231-723-3587.
Sources
- https://www.carferry.com
- https://www.visitmanisteecounty.com/web-2-0-directory/ss-city-of-milwaukee-museum-uscgc-acacia
- https://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/archives/paranormal-investigators-spend-night-on-city-of-milwaukee/article_52edf50d-810b-50e7-8146-46e0ec268a27.html
- https://www.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/traverse-city-ghost-hunters-probe-manistee-ghost-ship/article_558972d7-5920-5444-9cd2-c1f56ef78a9e.html
Phantom voicesPhantom footstepsDoors opening/closingObject movementCold spotsApparitions
Reports from the SS City of Milwaukee follow a consistent pattern. Volunteer crew arriving for daytime maintenance shifts have described hearing their names spoken in the empty engine room and pilothouse. Overnight guests staying in original crew quarters during the bed-and-breakfast season have reported the sound of doors closing in compartments where no one was present, and the sensation of someone stepping past their bunk during the night. Tools and small items have reportedly disappeared from one part of the vessel and reappeared, sometimes hours later, exactly where they had originally been set down.
The vessel has been investigated by multiple regional teams. The Ludington Daily News documented an early overnight investigation in which amateur ghost hunters camped aboard in an attempt to corroborate the reports. The Traverse City Record-Eagle reported on a separate Traverse City group's investigation that included full-vessel sweeps over a weekend. The carferry hosted public events for National Ghost Hunting Day, joining roughly 150 sites worldwide in a coordinated investigation.
The ship's current operators maintain a partnership with GRASPP Paranormal Investigations and host the Ghost Ship haunted attraction in October. The October program is theatrical rather than investigative — costumed actors, scripted scares, and themed lighting — and operates separately from the documentary-investigation programming run during the rest of the year.
Media Appearances
- Ludington Daily News overnight investigation feature
- Traverse City Record-Eagle investigation feature
