When did Boblo boat stop running? Its too bad they couldnt have it ready for this year to celebrate its 100th anniversary. . The place is oozing history. Loved going to Bob-Lo as a kid. This amusement park, while once the delight of both kids and adults until the early 90s, has been abandoned for more than two decades. Only about a third of a milea 5 to 10-minute walk, depending on your speedfrom the ferry dock on the west side of the island, east on Bob-Lo Island Boulevard, to the marina on the other side of the narrow island. Photo courtesy of the Detroit Historical Society. The ship, docked at Riverside Marina on the Detroit River, caught fire after 11 a.m. on . The 1991, the boats ceased their 81-year run, and the park closed in 1993. (Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com). Once known as Bois Blanc Island, Boblo lies on the Detroit River on the Canadian side. The classic boats stopped running in 1991 and the amusement park was shuttered after the 1993 season. "That's probably because I have about twice as many rides as Boblo Island." I was just in Amherstburg Sunday May 27,2013. Our world today, especially with the pandemic, needs what we all once had back in this society. During the mid-19th century, the island was sold in parcels to several private owners who built cottages, stables, and trails. These gleeful youngsters certainly seem amused on a ride at Eastwood, at the northeast corner of Eight Mile Road and . http://bit.ly/2cIo6Ny. - LJ. 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. Plenty of old carney magic still haunts this photogenic amusement park. The British also built a lighthouse in 1836 which operated until 1959. If you need help with the Public File, call (313) 222-0566. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters. Only one blockhouse remains today. Poison ivy now grows in the ring of mature trees in front of the Lavatory building, where I imagine the men in hatsretiring for a smoke while they await their dates inflapper attireto emerge from The Ladies Room.. The park has been closed since 1993, but the legend of Boblo is still strong. Both doors are were chain locked. Watch. As a child I went to Bob-Lo Island every summer from the Detroit Side of the island. [28] However, a local housing slump meant little was developed. The goal of developers is to someday populate the entire island with neighborhoods. McLeans Mansion (Holly Lea): The historic building that was saved by the local community from demolition, The ruins of Richmond Castle: one of the oldest Norman fortresses in England. As well as some great stories, it includes some good photographs from all of the islands incarnations! Claire, seen in 2016. In this respect, today, Bob-Lo Island appears a bead broken off from the strand, adrift in more than just the Detroi River, its historic integrity drowned in the current of a sequence of ill-fated development schemes. We toured the Ste Claire in 2015 while restoration efforts were ongoing before fire gutted it on July 6, 2018. By 1742, a French mission among the Hurons was established. Is there a safe dock area, in which to leave our boat-(also Draft/depth) info .Is there a dock fee? The restaurant just opened for the season on the 24th, this past Friday. Although I had $8.00 in Canadian currency in hand to pay the ferry toll, I rode the ferry without being charged and with no questions asked. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. This historic boat carried passengers to and from Boblo Island, and amusement park located on the Detroit River. The steamers, the Ste. The Boblo Island amusement park closed in the 1990s after a century of operation. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Mike! The first amusement park rides were moving by 1910. Claire. One of the oldest structures on the island was vandalized in 1954, with vandals setting fire to the top of the 1837 lighthouse, destroying the upper structure. Parts of that tower still stand. One step on the old dock, and I saw an old run-down white platform, no life, no care in worldlike everyone was evacuated and told not to come back. My favorite ride was the Log Ride, I thought it was the greatest thing of all time. "I have all the amenities of city life that I need within walking distance in Amherstburg, and all the amazing amenities the island life brings me.". These are some of the many doors leading to the inside of the old Dance Hall. If you are adventurous and don't mind a difficult climb, you can make a reservation (months in advance) and enter the crown. All rights reserved (About Us). This is what the more than 100-year old steamer looked like a few years ago. Boblo Island looks much different today, and if developers reach their goals, it will be almost unrecognizable to past thrill-seekers. Boblo Island Amusement Park is an abandoned amusement park which operated from 1898 until its closure on September 30, 1993. Both vessels are bound for Boblo Island. Flags at the Amherstburg Dock. All the passengers who had purchased round-trip tickets were comfortably aboardall, that is, but one. He's been with WDIV since 2013. Touch device users . Between my concerns for the submerged rocks of the river and the mortar of history I was climbing over, I thought, what a wonderful place this island would be to explore if you were a kid or teenager and what a nightmare it poses for parents or grandparents of those explorers! - Bonnie, Oh! 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. It's a place for those looking to surround themselves with nature, including the more than 50 different species of birds. - Mellissa M. Sources: BobloSteamers.com, Water Winter Wonderland. Once the island closed, the boats sat abandoned for years. Boblo Island became the headquarters for the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh during the War of 1812. Thank you again for the information. The park sat just above the mouth of the Detroit River, but was actually on the Canadian side on Bois Blanc Island, Ontario. One reason is competition from larger theme parks. The living space of the Deerview twin villas. The only access was via one of two ferries from Detroit or Amherstburg, the SS Ste. I can only imagine the dangers of the dilapidated buildings, to say nothing of concerns about strangers. The people of Detroit, Michigan, characterized it as the city's Coney Island. - Marva, I am 63 years old and I remember Bob-lo so well. It was finally decided in 1949 to officially re-name the island and the park Bob-Lo, in a matter of simplification (today it is still referred to by both names on maps of the area). 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. Theme parks, like Lake Shawnee Park in West Virginia, closed down after guests died at the park. The far end of the island is now all luxury homes. When was the last time yousailed down the Detroit River toBob-Lo Island, to summertime? On the far side of the ride, people wait in line. I learned this and most of what I know about the history of Bob-Lo Island from 1670 2006 in the book Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-Lo Island by Patrick Livingston (published in 2008 by the Wayne State University Press in Detroit as a part of their Great Lakes Books series): How does Bob-Lo Island appear today, Saturday, July 30, 2011? When you disembark from the ferry, youfindyourself adjacent to a private very well-to-do residential area. I, too, went there every year as a child from Detroit. I would make sure my friends knew all the history of Bob-Lo. Today, 24 years after the park was closed and 118 years after its grand opening, little remains as a reminder of the islands history. Though not all is lost. The non-French residents called it Boblo, and the name was officially accepted in 1949. On that visit, the very air between the Wild Mouse and the Whip was fraught with hormones dancing to a Top Ten soundtrack which included Sitting on the Dock of the Bay and Grazing in the Grass.. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Four million tourists flock to Liberty Island in New York each year to see the architectural marvel, The Statue of Liberty. If youre interested, check out Patrick Livingstons book Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-Lo Island, published by Wayne State University Press in 2008. Pinterest. Claire and the Columbia, as well as their Detroit docks, had been divested a few years earlier in 1991. Few physical reminders remain from the amusement park, which closed in 1993, but the island has had a surprising resurgence - as a quiet but thriving residential community. (Check out more Boblo history at BobloSteamers.com), Alex Atwell put together an awesome tour of the Ste. Would love to know more about your experience working on the Bob-Lo boats. "We are at the point in restoration to where it was a steel skeleton structure ready to be rebuilt." [7] Though one expert felt that Boblo was too big to fail outright and could be turned around,[8] By June, however, no firm offers had been made for the park. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). 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. Boblo Island was very special. Instead, the island and steamships were purchased by the Browning family. It's just a stone's throw from historic Amherstburg, Ontario, which is a 30-minute drive from Windsor. The people of Detroit, Michigan, characterized it as the city's Coney Island. The 18-mile boat ride was carried out by the famous ships: the Columbia, built in 1902, and the Ste. The non-French residents called it Boblo, and the name was officially accepted in 1949. As one can use motor vehicles only in the northern residential tip of the island, if you plan to explore the island, you may want to bring a bike with you. On the south side of the road leading from the ferry dock is a five-story condominium: Between the river and the condominium is a trail which heads south along the islands perimeter and allows a walker orbicyclist to view a number of historical structures, including the Sailors Monument, which still graces the eastern shore of the island: The commemorative plaque affixed to the Sailors Monument reads: Dedicated to 134 years of American-Canadian friendship across 4500 miles of unfortified border, protected only by the mutual respect and understanding one nation holds for the other. For visitors based in Detroit, it was about 30 kilometers away and could be reached by ferry. . The Nightmare (ride), Falling Star, Wild Mouse, Sky Streak and Screamer were the signature rides. This was particularly true during the Great Depression and the World War II era, when finances were tight and the world seemed to exist in a perpetual state of anxiety. 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