Car Ferries on Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan, over 300 miles long and up to 80 miles wide, blocked rail traffic between lower Michigan and Wisconsin, posing a serious problem to several Michigan lines in the late 1800s as logging revenues declined. In 1892 car ferry operations from Lake Betsie to Kewaunee, Wisconsin, were begun by the Ann Arbor R. R. This was the world’s first use of car ferries across such an expanse of open water. Other ferries were soon operating from Ludington, Grand Haven, and Muskegon to terminals across the lake, thus forging a vital link in America’s railroad network.