SS Columbia is the last remaining excursion steamship from the turn of the 20th century in existence, the second to last being her running mate and sister ship SS Ste. Claire which burned in 2018. Both were designed by Frank E. Kirby and Louis O. Keil. Columbia was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992. As of 2019, the vessel is docked at Silo City in Buffalo, New York while work is being done to rehabilitate it. History Columbia was built in Wyandotte, Michigan, in 1902, and Ste. Claire was built in Toledo, Ohio, in 1910. The naval architect Frank Kirby designed a new girder system for Columbia that allowed for the spans needed for a dance floor, thus Columbia was the first steamboat in the US with a proper ballroom. Columbia influenced the design of excursion steamers including Americana, Canadiana, Ste. Claire, Put-in-bay, Peter Stuyvesant, and Catalina throughout the US. Columbia and Ste. Claire were originally joined by a third, SS Britannia, built in 1906. During their heyday, Columbia and Ste. Claire sailed down the Detroit River from downtown Detroit to Bois Blanc Island, an Ontario island that was home to an amusement park built as a destination for the steamers. During the summer, the ship's triple decks would be filled with passengers enjoying the 90-minute, boat ride to the Boblo Island Amusement Park. Both ships featured music and dancing, an arcade, and a snack bar. The ships became icons on the Detroit River and were greatly loved by the people of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Columbia became the setting for an historic Civil Rights battle in 1945 when a young African American woman named Sarah Elizabeth Ray joined her classmates for a celebratory graduation cruise aboard the ship. Officers of the Boblo Excursion company then approached Ray and told her she had to leave due to her race. When they threatened her with physical removal, she agreed to leave but not before throwing the proffered fare refund back at them and getting their names. Ray enlisted the help of the NAACP in filing a complaint, and the State of Michigan charged the company with violating its civil rights law. The company claimed due to their routes crossing the Canada–US border that they were engaged in international commerce and were not subject to state regulations. Michigan