Cleveland
Iron Company
A
group of men from the Cleveland area pooled their money and their minds
to create the Cleveland Iron Company to explore for minerals in the
remote wilderness of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 1847, just
three years after iron ore was discovered near what is now Negaunee,
Michigan in 1844.
On April 2, 1850, the state legislature of Michigan granted the re-named
Cleveland Iron Mining Company a charter "...for the purpose of
mining, smelting and manufacturing ores, minerals and metals in the
upper peninsula of Michigan."
Shortly
thereafter, mining began in earnest at the Cleveland Mine, located just
east of what is now Ishpeming, Michigan. In 1855, following the construction
of the Sault Ste. Marie Ship Canal, the Company shipped 1,449 tons of
ore to furnaces located on the lower Great Lakes. It’s interesting
to note that the first shipment of iron ore through the new locks system
in August 1855 was on board the two-masted brigantine Columbia. It carried
120 tons of Cleveland Iron Mining Company ore destined for Cleveland,
Ohio.
The late 1850s and early 1860s saw iron ore tonnages shipped by the
Cleveland Iron Mining Company grew despite the continual challenges
of mining and shipping ores in the rugged, and at times, hostile environment
of the Upper Peninsula
By
1890, the two major iron mining companies on the Marquette Range were
the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, headed by Samuel L. Mather, who had
assumed the presidency in 1869, and the Iron Cliffs Company.
Samuel Livingston Mather began merger discussions with the Iron Cliffs
Company to join these two industry pioneers. Mather’s youngest
son, William Gwinn Mather, completed the merger and was named president
of the new firm--The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company--in 1891.
A
marine department dates back to 1867, when the Company acquired half
interest in the George Sherman, an ore-carrying vessel, with a capacity
of 550 tons. In 1888, the Company built the first steel steamers for
the iron ore trade, the Pontiac and the Frontenac. The Company maintained
its own fleet of ore carriers until it phased out the marine department
in the mid-1980s.
In
1986, the Company announced plans to acquire iron mining competitor
Pickands Mather & Co., which also had been founded in Cleveland.
Among that Company’s founders in 1883 was Samuel Mather, the oldest
son of Cleveland Iron Mining Company executive Samuel Livingston Mather,
and half brother to William G. Mather, longtime Cleveland-Cliffs president
and chairman.
http://www.cleveland-cliffs.com/general/history/default.asp
©
2006 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc
A Global Authority in Iron Mining
Ships
of the Cleveland-Cliffs Steamship Company
The
Steamship William G. Mather is a retired Great Lakes bulk freighter
now restored as a maritime museum in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four in
the Great Lakes region. She transported cargos such as ore, coal, stone,
and grain to ports throughout the Great Lakes, and was nicknamed "The
Ship That Built Cleveland" because Cleveland's steel mills were
a frequent destination.
* Type: Great Lakes Straight Deck Bulk Carrier
* Built: 1925, Ecorse, Michigan
* Launched: May 23, 1925
* At: Great Lakes Engineering Works, for Cleveland Cliffs Steamship
Company
* Length: 618 feet
* Beam: 62 feet
* Draft: 32 feet (loaded)
* Gross Tonnage: 8,662 tons
* Cargo Capacity: 14,000 tons
* Crew: (1925-1964) 37 ; (1965-1980) 29
She
was built in as the flagship for the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company and
was named in honor of the then-company president, William Gwinn Mather.
The Mather remained the Cliffs' flagship until the Edward B. Green (now
the Kaye E. Barker of the Interlake Steamship Company fleet) was built
in 1952. She remained an active part of the Cliffs' fleet until the
end of the 1980 navigation season.
In
order to supply the Allied Forces need for steel during World War II,
the Mather led a convoy of 13 freighters in early 1941 through the ice-choked
Upper Great Lakes to Duluth, Minnesota, setting a record for the first
arrival in a northern port. This heroic effort was featured in the April
28, 1941 issue of Life Magazine. She was one of the first commercial
Great Lakes vessels to be equipped with radar in 1946. In 1964, she
became the very first American vessel to have an automated boiler system,
manufactured by Bailey Controls of Cleveland, Ohio.
The
WILLIAM G. MATHER loading.
In
1985, Cleveland-Cliffs sold its two remaining operating steamers to
Rouge Steel Company, and gradually sold off its idle vessels until only
the Mather remained, laid up in Toledo, Ohio where she had been since
1980. On December 10, 1987, Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. donated the steamer
William G. Mather to the Great Lakes Historical Society to be restored
and preserved as a museum ship and floating maritime museum.
In October 1990, she was moved to her permanent berth at the East Ninth
Street Pier on Cleveland's North Coast Harbor.
Harbor Heritage formally acquired the Mather on 22 July 1995, and in
1996 continued to oversee the Mather's ongoing restoration, promotion,
and development as a historic vessel.
In
Fall of 2005, the museum was moved from the East Ninth Street Pier to
Dock 32, just west of the East Ninth Street Pier, closer to the Great
Lakes Science Center.
Museum
ship William G. Mather
The Steamship William G. Mather is a retired Great Lakes bulk freighter
now restored as a maritime museum in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four in
the Great Lakes region. She transported cargo such as ore, coal, stone,
and grain to ports throughout the Great Lakes, and was nicknamed "The
Ship That Built Cleveland" because Cleveland's steel mills were
a frequent destination.
She
was built in as the flagship for the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company and
was named in honor of the then-company president, William Gwinn Mather.
The Mather remained the Cliffs' flagship until the Edward B. Green (now
the Kaye E. Barker of the Interlake Steamship Company fleet) was built
in 1952. She remained an active part of the Cliffs' fleet until the
end of the 1980 navigation season.
In
order to supply the Allied Forces need for steel during World War II,
the Mather led a convoy of 13 freighters in early 1941 through the ice-choked
Upper Great Lakes to Duluth, Minnesota, setting a record for the first
arrival in a northern port. This heroic effort was featured in the April
28, 1941 issue of Life Magazine. She was one of the first commercial
Great Lakes vessels to be equipped with radar in 1946. In 1964, she
became the very first American vessel to have an automated boiler system,
manufactured by Bailey Controls of Cleveland, Ohio.
In
1985, Cleveland-Cliffs sold its two remaining operating steamers to
Rouge Steel Company, and gradually sold off its idle vessels until only
the Mather remained, laid up in Toledo, Ohio where she had been since
1980. On December 10, 1987, Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. donated the steamer
William G. Mather to the Great Lakes Historical Society to be restored
and preserved as a museum ship and floating maritime museum. After she
was brought to Cleveland in October 1988 and funding was acquired from
local foundations, corporations, and individuals, restoration began.
Fire damage to the Mather's galley and after cabin spaces required a
major restoration effort. All over the vessel, most of the work was
supplied by volunteers who repaired, cleaned, chipped, painted, and
polished brass in order to restore the Mather's former elegance. In
October 1990, she was moved to her permanent berth at the East Ninth
Street Pier on Cleveland's North Coast Harbor.
In
September 1994 the Great Lakes Historical Society divested itself of
the museum. Due, in large part, to a groundswell of local support to
keep the Mather in Cleveland, the Harbor Heritage Society was created
to negotiate a new lease agreement with the city. Incorporated in June
1995, Harbor Heritage formally acquired the Mather on 22 July 1995,
and in 1996 continued to oversee the Mather's ongoing restoration, promotion,
and development as a historic vessel. After 10 years of negotiations,
the City Of Cleveland, represented by Mayor Jane L. Campbell signed
a 40 year lease on 15 June 2003, allowing the Mather to stay at its
East 9th Street berth.
On July 30, 1995 the Steamship William G. Mather was dedicated as an
American Society of Mechanical Engineers National Historic Mechanical
Engineering Landmark for her 1954 installation of a single marine boiler
and steam turbine engine, her 1964 installation of the Bailey 760 Boiler
Control System and American Shipbuilding AmThrust dual propeller bow
thruster — all firsts for U.S.-Flag Great Lakes vessels.
Current
location
In
Fall of 2005, the museum was moved from the East Ninth Street Pier to
Dock 32, just west of the East Ninth Street Pier.
