Designed by naval architect Frank E. Kirby, the SS City of Erie was a celebrated sidewheel steamboat constructed in 1898 by the Detroit Dry Dock Company for the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Company. Launched in early 1898, the vessel officially began operations that June, primarily connecting Cleveland, Erie, and Buffalo. It earned the affectionate moniker “Honeymoon Special” due to the large number of newly married couples riding the ferry toward Niagara Falls. Late in its service life, starting in 1929, the route shifted to run between Cleveland and Port Stanley, Ontario.
The ship’s most famous moment came as a result of regional media rivalry. After a Chicago newspaper touted the City of Chicago as the fastest vessel on the Great Lakes following a September 1900 race, a rival Detroit paper responded with a list of faster ships—inadvertently omitting the newly built speedster Tashmoo. Prompted by the omission, the head of the White Star Line issued a $1,000 challenge to any vessel that could beat the Tashmoo. The Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Company accepted, setting an 82-nautical-mile course along the City of Erie’s standard run from Cleveland to Erie.
During the high-stakes race, the City of Erie took an early lead before being overtaken by the Tashmoo. However, the Tashmoo lost ground once it lost sight of the coastline, as its wheelsman lacked experience navigating solely by compass. Mechanical troubles compounded the setback when an engine condenser overheated, forcing the Tashmoo to slow down. The City of Erie reclaimed the lead and won by a narrow 45-second margin. Although its owners acknowledged that the Tashmoo was technically the faster vessel, they declined to offer a rematch.
The City of Erie’s long history was not without tragedy; on September 27, 1909, it collided with the schooner T. Vance Straubenstein, sending the smaller ship to the bottom and claiming three lives. The storied steamboat was eventually decommissioned in 1938 and scrapped in Cleveland three years later.
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