90. S.S. Keewatin and Red Dock
In the early 1900s, the Red Dock was an important Douglas fruit shipping and storage point that avoided the danger of ships squeezing through the Douglas swing bridge upriver. The Red Dock was also easily accessible by fruit farmers coming from the orchards south of Douglas. Eventually, silt accumulating in Lake Kalamazoo made large ship movement to the dock impossible. The Red Dock exists today as a seasonal outdoor bar.
The S.S. Keewatin, a 300-foot passenger and freight steamship, was built in the famous Fairfield shipyard of Glasgow, Scotland in 1907. A prime example of the bygone Great Lakes passenger steamship era, the Keewatin featured grand accommodations including staterooms, lounges, and a walnut-paneled dining room. Mr. R.J. Peterson brought the vessel to Saugatuck in 1968, after it had been retired from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company in 1965. The ship arrived with all the dinnerware, glasses, silverware and linens still aboard. The S.S. Keewatin found a new use in Douglas as a maritime museum. It was a beloved landmark. In June 2012 the ship was sold and moved to Port McNicoll, Ontario, its former home port. In 2024, after a stint in dry dock for repairs, the Keewatin found a new home port at the Great Lakes Museum in Kingston, Ontario.