Page 143 NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY STR. PUT-IN-BAY Forty years ago, owners of passenger vessels on the Great Lakes faced an uncertain future as people's love affair with the automobile was replacing their desire for excursion trips along the St. Clair River or down to Cedar Point on Lake Erie. One of the first passenger vessels to succumb to this changing pattern was the Put-in-Bay. Built in 1911 by the Detroit Shipbuilding Co. at Wyandotte, Michigan as Hull 186, she measured 240'(oa) x 46.5' x 17.6". Operated by the Ashley & Dustin Steamer Line, she quickly became known as a dancing ship. The ballroom on the promenade deck was enclosed with sliding glass doors, which were left open in good weather to capture lake breezes. With live entertainment onboard, the care-free spirit prevailed on all three decks. For over three decades the Put-in-Bay carried thousands of passengers daily to Lake Erie destinations and when the Tashmoo ended her career in 1936, the Put-in-Bay went up the St. Clair River to Tashmoo Park. As travel methods changed from ships to autos, The side-launching of the PUT-IN-BAY at Detroit Shipbuilding's yard in Wyandotte, Michigan. McDonald Coll./Dossin Museum