ST. CLAIR RIVER AREA COMMUNITIES' LORE IS INTERESTING
by Dave Ponke

Boat building was a very popular profession years ago in Algonac, as records indicate. Back in 1925, Dr. C.C. Eckfield started the Eckfield Boat Company in the village of Algonac.

The first boat the company produced was a three-section cockpit, which was actually quite a unique design. Pushed by a 90-horsepower engine, the craft could achieve a whopping 33-mph, which was considered quite swift back then.

The Eckfield factory was built near the former Chris Craft Company, on highway M-29 (called Detroit Road in those days). Dr. Eckfield was renowned for being the first to use a step on an outboard hydroplane boat bottom. This was called the "Jazz Bug," on the boat advertisements. Dr. Eckfield's son Gene was mostly in control of the company in its later days; he later went on to work at Chris Craft in 1929 when the Great Depression's effects caused Eckfield Boats to shut down.

The Swan Creek-Vernier Rd. Bridge was built in Fairhaven (Ira Township) in 1922, and historical records explain that it is, "one of the earliest existing examples of the curved top-chord through-girder bridge." This is a unique design created by the Michigan State Highway Department, and had made the bridge eligible for the National Register.

The fabulous design on the bridge is still visible today, when one travels Vernier Rd. over the branch of the Swan Creek just off Dixie Highway (M-29).

In 1914 the bridge that went over Swan Creek was declared as not safe, opening the door for the construction six years later of the bridge that still connects the two banks of the creek.

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The island reservation located in the St. Clair River across from Algonac, Walpole Island, used to be called St. Mary's Island.

Some may wonder that if they access Walpole Island by car ferry at Algonac, would they have to leave the island in the same manner? The answer to that question is "no."

A bridge built in 1970 connects the island with the mainland province of Ontario at Wallaceburg. It spans across the Snye Carte channel. For years, however, history shows that a hand-pulled scow, or ferry-cart, was used to transport people from the island to mainland.

This utilized wooden hand pulls. This ferry service shut down in 1946, and various ferry services replaced it until 1969, when the last one discontinued service.

That's when construction began on the current bridge.

Walpole Island is actually larger than some may envision; at 11 miles long and five miles wide, it covers just under 60,000 total acres.

The island's rivers, lakes, forest and smaller islands have been used for centuries by the native Indians for survival. Hunting, fishing and trapping has been, and still is, a way of life for residents.

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Harsen's Island residents have basically one method of travel from their island home back to mainland at Clay Township - by boat. They can use a private vessel or the auto ferry located at the start of state highway M-154. (Unless, of course, you have access to air travel, such as helicopter or small plane, as a few do.)

When annual ice floes jam and clog the river at Harsen's Island's North Channel, the United States Coast Guard cutters are called into action. For many years, especially in the mid 1980s, those ice cutters rescued residents by chopping ice away and clearing necessary paths for the auto ferry to transport vehicles and people again. The ice cutters had even, for a short time on a limited basis, transported persons to and from the island during the temporary ferry service shutdown. (This was an experience I actually had, when I boarded the vessel Bramble for a round trip in 1984. I can honestly say it was neat to see the way the Coast Guard personnel lived, as I walked through their "quarters" and saw their way of life on the waters. The personnel were accommodating and made us "outsiders" feel at home, serving hot chocolate and answering our questions with patience.)