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Algonac, Michigan, became the birthplace of Chris-Craft on a river crowded with steamers, fishing boats and summer visitors. This Michigan Moments episode follows the town from 1890 to 1940, when electric interurbans met horse-drawn wagons and polished mahogany runabouts began leaving local boat shops.
Hear how Christopher Columbus Smith turned his knowledge of the St. Clair River into a national boatbuilding business. Follow his work with racing champion Gar Wood, the record-setting Miss America boats and Algonac’s rise as a center of powerboat racing.
The story also visits Main Street, the Starlight dance pavilion, waterfront hotels, tourist cabins and the neighboring Anishinaabe community of Bkejwanong. One surprising chapter shows how an abandoned passenger railway returned to service hauling supplies and finished Chris-Craft boats.
It is the story of a small Michigan town that changed how Americans spent their time on the water.
The End of the Road in Michigan is a production of
Thumbwind Publications
