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Event

Beaver Island Boat Company announces bids for a proposed new ferry, 1962

Also 1962 new Beaver Island ferry proposal

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

Locator map: Saint James Harbor highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Took place at Saint James HarborLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
TypeEvent
Date1962-02-10
WithinSaint James Harbor
ErasModern era
On this page
Locator map: Saint James Harbor highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Took place at Saint James HarborLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
Event
Date
1962-02-10
Kind
Announcement
Where
Saint James Harbor
Participants
Mr. Hartell (designer)
Carried out by
Beaver Island Boat Company
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
maritimeshippingeconomytourism
Within
Saint James Harbor

Summary

The Beaver Island Boat Company announced that it would open bids on February 10, 1962, for a proposed new ferry. The Beaver Beacon says the design by naval architect Hartell would be 94 feet long, have a 27-foot beam and twin 1,000-horsepower engines, and carry 150 passengers and 12 cars. Radar and ship-to-shore telephones were proposed, with a projected July 1 start on the Charlevoix–Beaver route.

The report contrasts the proposal with the Emerald Isle, whose permitted capacity it gives as 113 passengers and eight cars. It also mentions a possible Petoskey–Beaver service but says no decision had been made about continuing the Emerald Isle or the new boat’s final name and schedule.

The March 1962 Beaver Beacon records the next stage: the Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corporation’s $187,000 bid was accepted, construction was to begin immediately, and the new vessel was named the Beaver Islander. The report planned its first Charlevoix–Beaver run for June 23. This outcome is kept separate from the February proposal because the two notices preserve different stages of the project.

Evidence and limits

The February notice is an announcement of a proposed design and bidding process. The March notice establishes an accepted bid, named builder, announced construction start, and planned June 23 service, but it does not by itself establish launch, completion, christening, or whether every proposed dimension and capacity was realized. The later August 1962 report supplies the vessel’s appearance, christening, and service start.

Sources

  1. Announces that the Boat Company would open bids February 10 for a new ferry designed by naval architect Hartell. The report gives proposed dimensions and capacity but does not identify a builder, winning bid, construction record, launch, or final vessel name.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1962-02_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1962-02_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Reports that the Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corporation bid of $187,000 was accepted and construction was to begin immediately on the Beaver Islander, planned for the Charlevoix–Beaver run June 23.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1962-03_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1962-03_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Beaver Island Boat Company announces bids for a proposed new ferry, 1962”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-boat-company-new-ferry-proposal-1962/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, February 1962, “Boat Company.” (and 3 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

BibTeX for “Beaver Island Boat Company announces bids for a proposed new ferry, 1962”RIS for “Beaver Island Boat Company announces bids for a proposed new ferry, 1962”