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Che Detroit Marine Historian 3 é v JOURNAL OF MARINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DETROIT Volume 8, No.2 Rev. Edward J. Dowling, S. J., Editor University of Detroit, Detroit 21, Mich. October, 1954 OK KK OK OK OK OK OR OK OK KOK OK OK ROK KOK KOK KOK OK OK OK OK OK The Story of the COLUMBIA TRANSPORTATION COMPANY = Part I be * KOK KR KOR OK KOK OK The SAMUEL MITCHELL Pesha photo The year 1954 is the centenary of Oglebay,Norton, managing operators of Columbia Transportation Co. Columbia takes its name from the brig COLUMBIA which in 1855 brought the first cargo of iron ore to the lower lakes di- rectly without transshipment. This cargo was consigned to Oglebay, Norton. The story of the present fleet, and its predecessors, dates back to 1891, In that year H.J.Webb & Co. began operating a fleet of bulk freighters, mostly wooden vessels. Three years later, Capt. W.C.Richardson became a partner of Webb and the company was then@eforth called W.C.Richardson & Co. In 1903 the name was changed again to Richardson Transportation Co., who were managing operators for several steamship owners. After World War I, the various fleets and ships formerly managed by Ryehardson were merged into one fleet, managed by Oglebay, Norton, and then known as the Columbia Steamship Co. In 1935 the fleets of Columbia SS and Valley Camp Steamship Co. and subsidiaries were merged and from this came the present Columbia Transportation Co. In listing the vessels of this succession of fleets we will make the following breakdown: 1) H.J.Webb & Co. and W.C.Richardson & Co., 2) Richardson Transportation Co., 3) Columbia Steamship Co., 4) Valley Camp fleet, and 5) the present fleet of Columbia Transportation Co.