SS Valley Camp is a lake freighter that served on the Great Lakes for almost 50 years and is now a museum ship in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.HistoryValley Camp was launched in Lorain, Ohio, in 1917 as the Louis W. Hill for the National Steel Corporation. She sailed for this company for 38 years hauling iron ore and coal until 1955 when she was sold to the Wilson Marine Transit Company. It was in this fleet that she received her current name. For this company she carried a wider array of bulk goods including grains and stone. Valley Camp was a member of the Wilson Fleet only until 1959 when the Republic Steel Corporation bought her and several of her Wilson fleetmates, including her identical sister Silver Bay (formerly Albert Heiken of National Steel). Republic kept Valley Camps name, and for that company she hauled iron ore and coal to their mills in Buffalo, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; and Indiana Harbor, Indiana. In 1966, Valley Camp made her last voyage. Her age was not an issue in her retirement, but a major problem with a coal-burning boiler was, Her twin, the Silver Bay, went on to sail until the early 1980s.Purchased by Le Sault de Sainte Marie Historical Sites, Inc., for $10,000, the ship was towed from Wisconsin to Sault Ste. Marie on July 6, 1968, during Sault Ste. Marie's tri-centennial celebration. As a museum ship, Valley Camp is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors have the opportunity to explore and look in every nook and cranny of the ship. In addition, the cargo hold houses hundreds of artifacts, paintings, shipwreck items, models, two lifeboats from the wreck of the, and exhibits of objects related to maritime history.
