THE CHICAGO CONNECTION

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An early color 1900s illustrated postcard titled 'WHERE RAIL AND WATER MEET, SOUTH HAVEN. MICH.' shows a busy town. Two steam engines, one with yellow passenger cars, travel from right to left. Behind the trains, there is a black-and-white steamship, two steel bridges and large red warehouses. Image Credit: Dick Godfrey

South Haven-Chicago Connection

The distance across Lake Michigan from Chicago to South Haven is about 80 miles. Since the mid-1800s, the cities have been linked by lumber, agriculture and tourism.

Fruit Industry

Chicago has been a large market for South Haven's fruit industry. The ability to quickly deliver fresh produce by boat helped sales to increase. In 1870, A.S. Dyckman and Thaddeus Hoppin shipped 12,000 packages of peaches by steamboat to Chicago.

A late 1900s black-and-white postcard titled 'Packing Peaches, South Haven, Mich.' A man and boy look down intently as they pack peaches, sitting across from each other at a long table. Round bushel baskets of peaches fill the room. Image Credit: Dick Godfrey

Sawmills

South Haven's sawmills processed logs into finished boards, selling a large portion to builders and businesses in Chicago. When a large portion of Chicago burned in 1871, South Haven businesses sold them lumber to help rebuild the city. Below lumber is being loaded on to the ships Waleska and Dunham in 1899.

Sails down, the Dunham is docked behind the Waleska. Lumber covers the dock and more lumber is stacked on the opposite side of the channel. Image Credit: Historical Association of South Haven

Steamboats and Tourists

An 1892 ad for the 'H.W. Williams Transportation Line.' has an illustration of a Great Lakes steamship. Text reads in part: 'DAILY LINE. BETWEEN. SOUTH HAVEN & CHICAGO. THE ELEGANT PASSENGER STEAMERS. City of Kalamazoo and H.W. Williams.....FARE $1.00. Good connections made for all points in Western Michigan.' Image Credit: Historical Association of South Haven

A 1929 color illustrated ad for Goodrich Steamship Lines shows the white steam liner 'Theodore Roosevelt' billowing thick black smoke from two tall smokestacks. Passengers stand on every deck, the wind blowing flags to the right. Text reads in part: 'Tickets Sold and Baggage Checked to All Points.' Image Credit: Historical Association of South Haven

A black-and-white photograph of the steam liner City of South Haven, circa 1920. The white steamer with three decks sits in glassy water, docked in a channel. Smoke gently wafts to the right from two large black-and-white smokestacks. Hundreds of passengers stand on the decks. Image Credit: Historical Association of South Haven

Before the widespread use of automobiles, steamships provided Chicago residents easy access to South Haven. Looking to escape the heat of summer in the big city, vacationers enjoyed the area's beaches and resorts. They were also attracted to South Haven's recreational amenities, including theaters, a casino, an opera house and an amusement park.

A yellowed 1902 postcard, 'SOUTH HAVEN, MICHIGAN. THE GREAT SUMMER RESORT' features illustrations of large leafy trees along glassy water and a Great Lakes ship. The card is addressed to Miss Adelia Ahrens, 1335 Sycamor St., Cincinnati, Ohio. Image Credit: Dick Godfrey

A 1906 postcard titled 'AN AFTERNOON ON THE BEACH' shows a scene of men and women on a sand-covered beach, lounging and swimming. Handwritten at the bottom of the card is an inscription that reads 'this is where we are now expect to leave this afternoon for Chicago.' Image Credit: Dick Godfrey

Disaster in Chicago

In 1903, the steamship S.S. Eastland was built for speed. It made regular excursions from Chicago to South Haven and was equipped with a water ballast system designed to get over South Haven's sandbars. Susceptible to listing, the top-heavy ship overturned at its Chicago River dock on July 24, 1915. More than 2,500 people were on board, 844 died.

Black-and-white photo of the S.S. Eastland capsized at port in the factory district along a river. People stand on the side of the capsized ship, as hundreds of others watch from in front of factories on the opposite side of the river. Nearly a dozen boats are in the river to aid the Eastland. Image Credit: Eastland Disaster Historical Society

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