Goodrich Transportation Company
Encyclopedia
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region, principally in Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
in the 19th and early 20th century.
History
The line was founded in 1868 by Albert Edgar Goodrich (born ca. 1825-1826, Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
— 1885).
Goodrich merged in April 1868 with the Engelmann line, run by Nathan and Michael Engelmann.
The line leased the S.S. Christopher Columbus
SS Christopher Columbus
The SS Christopher Columbus was an American excursion liner on the Great Lakes, in service between 1893 and 1933. She was the only whaleback ship ever built for passenger service. The ship was designed by Alexander McDougall, the developer and promoter of the whaleback design.Columbus was built...
in 1899. Many other ships were operated including the Menominee, Muskegon, Chicago, and Milwaukee (many of the ships were named after cities serviced).
Goodrich was involved in controversy. More than one Goodrich vessel was lost due to shipwreck. The SS Alpena was lost in October 1880 en route from Grand Haven, Michigan
Grand Haven, Michigan
Grand Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand Haven had a population of 10,412. It is part of the...
to Chicago, Illinois, and a subsequent investigation took the company to task for poor equipment condition and poorly trained crew.
The line was involved in a case versus the Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
in 1912, ICC v. Goodrich Transit Co., , which went all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
On February 4, 1915, the steamer Iowa (built in 1896 on the hull of the Menominee), on its way to the Port of Chicago with the Racine (belonging to Chicago Racine & Milwaukee Steamship Company), sent a radio message at 4:15 a.m., as she was about three miles out, that she had encountered heavy ice. The ice was especially bad that winter with ice freezing up to 25 miles from the port. She had been doing okay, under the command of Gerald E. Stufflebeam, as she approached the ice clogged harbor, until the wind shifted then she was crushed by the ice at 10:00 a.m. As the Iowa sank about two miles out, the 1 passengers and 45 crew left the ship and took refuge on the ice. They started walking toward Chicago as rescuers headed to meet them, including city tugboats.
Goodrich eventually went bankrupt in 1933.