History
After the Civil War, railroads expanded rapidly throughout the US, carrying both passengers and freight. The route from Toledo to points in the western US was of particular economic importance, but freight had to pass through a notorious bottleneck at Chicago, where freight cars could become mired for days or weeks. To avoid this, freight began to be moved along various routes to the shores of Lake Michigan, offloaded from trains onto ships, transported across the lake, and reloaded onto west-bound trains. It’s not surprising that this was terribly inefficient. James Ashley, the president of the Ann Arbor Railroad, which extended from Toledo, through Ann Arbor, to South Frankfort on the shore of Lake Michigan, investigated using large ferries that could carry several rail cars without the need to offload the freight. This was already being done across the straits of Mackinac, but crossing Lake Michigan required much larger ferries. The coal-fired ferry Ann Arbor #1 was launched in 1892, and began service between South Frankfort and Kewaunee, Wisconsin, cutting the trip by up to 2 days compared to shipping through Chicago. Soon Ann Arbor #2 was added, and routes were expanded to Gladstone in Michigan, and to Sturgeon Bay and Manitowoc in Wisconsin. South Frankfort was renamed Elberta in 1911, after the locally-grown Elberta peach. By 1927, eight ferries had been constructed and business was booming, but by the 1950s the ferries were aging and several had left service. Although ferry service was expanded to include passengers and automobiles, the Ann Arbor Railroad experienced the same decay as the national railroad infrastructure, and in 1973 it went bankrupt. The track was bought by the State of Michigan, and the ferries continued for nearly a decade under Conrail and the Michigan Interstate Railway, but the state finally closed the Elberta ferry terminal in 1982. A wonderful short video on the history of the Elberta car ferries can be found here.
Elberta is located on the south side of Betsie Lake, which is a widening of the Betsie River as it enters Lake Michigan. Frankfort, located on the north side of the lake, was still a small, quiet town when the ferry service ended. It is now a busy tourist center and port of call for yachts cruising Lake Michigan, with numerous quaint shops, bed-and-breakfasts, and restaurants. It is also a gateway to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which has seen a surge in attendance in recent years. In comparison, Elberta remains a sleepy village. The former area once occupied by the ferry docks is now mostly a village park, with a few businesses scattered around.
The seaplane base as constructed for Microsoft Flight Simulator
I think that the location of the old ferry docks would be a marvelous place for a seaplane base. The area is quiet compared to bustling Frankfort, and Lake Betsie is a wonderful setting for a water runway. Although there is a lot of pleasure boat traffic near the entry to lake Michigan, the southern and eastern portions are quiet, with only a few charter fishing boats making their way out to the big lake. The base I built has a paved ramp with fuel and two hangars. Amphibious aircraft may enter the ramp from the lake at the point where the western car ferry dock once loaded railroad cars (see photos). The ramp occupies part of the old railroad yard (see map), with parking for amphibious planes. For entertainment, there is a deck off the main hangar, a larger deck perched above the lake, and a small sandy beach. There is also a seaplane dock with room for three aircraft, two wooden ramps for ramping planes with pontoons, and two spots to moor float planes or flying boats. Transportation to the ramp is available via motorboat for those who wish to moor or anchor in the lake – contact UNICOM before landing. The water runway (11-29) is marked by lighted buoys. Radio service includes ASOS on 119.925 and UNICOM/CTAF shared with the nearby Frankfort airport (Dow Memorial Field, KFKS) on 123.05. I have given the seaplane base the unused designation 8MI2, in recognition of the ending of the railroad ferry service in 1982.
Nearby places to visit
There are numerous beautiful places near Elberta to explore by air. Some of the most magnificent fresh water dunes in the world lie in this area along Lake Michigan. Just to the south is Arcadia Bluffs Golf Course, a links course perched in the dunes high above Lake Michigan, ranked the number 14 best public course in the country. To the north is Crystal Lake, a major tourist area, and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore. The seaplane base is also a good launching point for the nearby North Fox and Beaver Islands, both of which have airports or landing fields. Beaver Island also has a nice harbor for water landings. North and South Manitou Islands are part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and are a short trip from Elberta. Continuing to the north one finds small fishing villages and harbors along the Leelanau Peninsula, which is also the home to vineyards of Michigan’s growing wine industry. Traverse City is an extremely popular tourist destination, just 30 miles to the east of Elberta. It has a towered airport anchoring Grand Traverse Bay with numerous places to land a sea plane and explore. Farther north are many other popular lakes, harbors, and coastal towns and villages. You might also want to visit the Frankfort Dow Memorial Field (KFKS) just over a mile from the sea plane base. The Frankfort dunes have been a hotbed of soaring and hang-gliding activity since the 1930s, hosting several national events and regional contests. KFKS is a great place to launch your sailplane.
Notes
To install the airport, unzip and place the folder titled "mulberrywing-airport-8mi2-elberta-seaplane-base" in your community folder. You will also need to download the Seaplane Asset Library from flightsim.to and place it in your community folder. Many thanks to 30West for providing this great library!
The former M-168 was the shortest highway in the Michigan State Highway system, running less that one mile from M-22 in Elberta to the Ann Arbor Car Ferry docks. The highway was commissioned in 1931, and left the state highway system in 2012 to become a village street.
There is still a coal-fired ferry carrying passengers, automobiles and commercial vehicles across Lake Michigan. The 410-foot long SS Badger, the last coal-fired passenger steamship operating in the US, travels daily between Ludington and Manitowoc. The Badger was launched in 1953 primarily as a rail-car ferry, and is now a designated National Historic Landmark. Her sister ship, the SS Spartan, was launched in 1952 and currently sits idle in the number 2 ½ slip in Ludington.
I have a connection to the Frankfort area through my wife. Her grandmother lived on a small farm just south of town and taught in several one-room school houses in the Frankfort area. My wife’s mother was born on the farm, also taught in the local schools, and later retired back on the homestead. I had the fortune of seeing the car ferries in operation in the late 1970s during my early visits to their farm.
Great work on this base and very good use of libraries, in a very nice area too. We need more sea plane bases. Thanks!
10 months ago
Thanks for the kind words!
10 months ago
MulberryWing
fStopper