Undefeated

Undefeated
Author: Jean R. Beach and Dr. Don Steele
Publisher: Author House
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2014-10-22
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1496947347

Undefeated provides an engaging and thorough picture of how a family owned business developed, overcame challenges, and interacted with the rich context of the northern Michigan tourism industry. It is a very rare story of a three-generation family-owned and family-operated business that has had to fight for survival for nearly seventy years. Fierce competition from other ferry lines, treacherous weather conditions, costly maintenance on passenger and freight vessels, changing governmental regulations, and depressed economic conditions in the State of Michigan are but a few of the challenges the Sheplers have faced over the years. This book reveals how, operating in the historically rich Straits of Mackinac waters of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry exploits the beautiful scenery, military forts, lighthouses, and the world famous Mackinac Bridge by conducting tours accompanied by expert narration sharing both fact and fiction about the native American culture of the region, the missionaries, fur trading, and ships lost to the rough waters of the Great Lakes. In this book the reader will also get some interesting insights into Mackinac Island and St. Ignace, with their very divergent cultures and offerings that can inspire and entertain visitors.

Michigan State Ferries

Michigan State Ferries
Author: Les Bagley
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738550688

For half a century, the Mackinac Bridge has connected Michigan's peninsulas. Before that, only ferryboats crossed the historic Straits of Mackinac. Huge, ice-crushing railroad ferries first appeared in the 1880s. But by the 1920s, growing automobile ownership, improved roads, and creative tourism promotion brought demands for better, cheaper, and more frequent service. Politicians listened, and in 1923, Michigan became the first state to operate a ferry as part of its highway department. The "Great White Fleet" began with just a tiny used boat and ended with a flotilla including the largest, most powerful ice-breaking ferry in the world. The operation became the biggest employer in the region while battling severe winter weather, partisan politics, and ever-growing lines of summer motorists. Over 34 years, Michigan State ferries united communities, built businesses, and transported millions of eager tourists and travelers across the Great Lakes' "Water Wonderland."

The Great Lakes Car Ferries

The Great Lakes Car Ferries
Author: George W. Hilton
Publisher: Montevallo Historical Press
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2019-12-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 0965862453

In the United States and Canada, there was a time when railroad tunnels and bridges were only dreams in the minds of designers, when the best way to move railroad cars across rivers and lakes was to load them on specialized ships customized for this purpose. With this functional principle in mind, shipbuilders around the Great Lakes and elsewhere built an amazing variety of vessels to do the job quickly, efficiently, and safely. George W. Hilton’s book tells the story of these boats and of the hardworking, heroic men who day after day, year after year, battled mechanical problems, ice, and bad weather, to get the cars safely across the water.