Detroit Historical Society

    This oil painting, titled "5:30 P.M. Departure - Destination Buffalo, N.Y” is by Charles T. Stobar. It shows a port-quarter bow view of the D&C steamer Greater Detroit backing away from the D&C dock

    This illustration of the steamship Benson Ford was painted by Paul LaMarre Jr. in 1981. The vessel was one of several in the Ford Motor Co. fleet named for Edsel Ford’s three sons, and spent its care

    Titled "City of Detroit, from the Canadian Side" by A.W. Graves, this illustration shows at least 26 vessels in 1886, including the sidewheel steamer City of Cleveland of 1880. Image is painted on wo

    The steamer Alaska was built in 1878 by John Clark in Detroit and served the Lake Erie islands and Sandusky. The painting was created by Nathaniel C. Bullock, a Detroit artist who specialized in mari

    This image shows the lighthouse on the eastern end of Belle Isle, likely in the 1930s. Most of the original 1882 Victorian architectural filigree is gone, as is the decorative iron fencing along the

    This oil-on-artist's board view of the tug, Jesse James, shows the tug in Pringle Barge Line livery of black hull and white superstructure. The vessel, built at Manitowoc in 1923 as the John E. Meyer

    This oil painting of the J.T. Wing by Henry Bernahl shows the three-masted schooner under full sail. Built in New Brunswick, it served a varied coastal trade before coming to the Great Lakes to haul

    Colored lithograph of D&C ships City of Alpena (1893) and City of Detroit (1889) passing at night. Spague was fond of painting dramatic night scenes. Often referred to as “Spotlight Salute,” this lit

    This unnamed seascape, which includes a few sailing vessels in stormy weather, is dated 1908. It is painted with a heavy palette typical of Hopkin’s style in his later years. He died in 1909.

    This oil painting depicts the D&C line’s Greater Buffalo and is signed “C.A. McCormack.” The artist was chief engineer of the ship in 1942, prior to its conversion to a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in

    This Sprague oil painting of the freighter "C.F. Bielman" is a dark scene with the moon shining full at the center top of canvas. Black smokestack carries red band with white “S” of Stewart Transport

    This acrylic painting of the "Windsor Train Barge - Loaded" shows a view of a railroad car ferry crossing the Detroit River. The pilot house on the viewer's right and smoke is coming out of both smok

    This portrait of William Livingstone was discovered in the DHS collection in 2006. While beautifully executed, there is no indication of the painting’s origins. Livingstone was a successful Detroit m

    This image of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald shows a side view of the vessel running light in modest seas. A white tugboat is in the background. While the water and sky are beautifully rendered, details

    This painting of the Detroit waterfront was created by Gordon P. Bugbee in 1965 at the age of 31. It shows the excursion steamer Tashmoo, the ferry Excelsior, with a D&C overnight steamer (either Eas

    Artist Leo V. Kuschel was popular for evocative image of ships and lighthouses. This rather whimsical oil study, dated 1972, shows salvage vessels working to refloat the Sidney E. Smith, Jr. after it

    This unusual work by Seth Arca Whipple was painted on a wooden artist’s palette, and illustrates an unnamed, generic package freighter of the period. Whipple was a highly sought Detroit artist who pr

    This waterfront view of Buffalo Harbor was painted by Howard Sprague, likely in the early 1890s, when he was in his 20s. The steamer departing could be the D&C’s new City of Detroit II (1889). Spragu

    This oil painting of the propeller Owen shows the vessel tied up at pier, apparently loading stone. Listed as a steam barge, the Owen is a type of small cargo ship referred to as a “rabbit.” Built in

    This oil painting illustrates the two-masted schooner Columbian under a full press of canvas. The vessel was launched at the yard of W.H. Wolf at Fort Howard (Green Bay) in 1864. She was intended for