Dara Fillmore

Dara Fillmore graduated in 2014 with a degree in public history.Ā She loves researching and writing about nearly anything historical- especially maritime and fur trade history. With her free time, she enjoys playing folk music and being outdoors.

By This Author:

A black and white image of the whaleback ship, the SS Meteor steaming across one of the Great Lakes

OBJECT HISTORY: The SS Meteor

The SSĀ MeteorĀ was launched as theĀ SS Frank RockefellerĀ in Superior, Wisconsin by theĀ American Steel Barge Company in 1896. The last remaining of only 44 ā€œwhalebackā€ ships ever built, it was designed by a Scottish immigrant named Alexander McDougall.

A black and white photo of the South Park, a whaleback ship

Great Lakes Shipping and the SS Meteor

TheĀ SSĀ MeteorĀ sailed the lakes longer than most ships of her day, and in her many reincarnations she offers a portrait of how some of the industries on the Great Lakes changedā€“ and what those changes meant for Wisconsin.Ā 

A map showing the twin ports of Duluth, MN and Superior, WI as well as the harbor and river between

The American Steel Barge Company

The American Steel Barge Company will illustrate that the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior were sometimes at odds over the shipping industry but typically ended up operating as a unit for economic reasons.