  Bussey Member Username: Bussey Post Number: 492 Registered: 12-2003 |
There is this nut at my work who seems to recall an incident where someone was killed on the boat and then the murderer(s) took over the boat and demanded to be let off on the U.S. side because they feared the Mounties. Is this just a crack pot story? I couldn't find a thing on Google. | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 945 Registered: 06-2006 |
The excursion vessel Ste. Claire (later famous as the Bob-Lo boat) was caught in a crossfire with the border patrol in 1931. An innocent passenger was wounded on the deck of the St. Claire by stray bullets from a border patrol boat. Incidents like this helped sway public opinion against prohibition. Taken from http://www.walkervilletimes.co m/34/mobsters1.html Don't know if that's it, but it's all I could find. (Message edited by detroitteacher on March 03, 2007) | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 946 Registered: 06-2006 |
Also found this: But just as the park was turning around, they began to have problems with Detroit gangs. In one May 1988 incident, after numerous fights had broken out in the park, The Ontario Provincial Police were brought in to supervise the loading of the ferries back to The United States. The officers wore bullet-proof vests and brandished weapons. The fights did not stop there. A confrontation broke out on one of the ferries, some fighters brandishing knives. Frightened spectators rushed to the opposite side of the boat which caused it to list badly. Many were trampled, some were beaten and/or thrown into the river. Taken from this website which gives almost a year by year overview of the park, complete with injuries, rides, attendance, etc. Darn near everything Bob-Lo is on there. http://cec.chebucto.org/ClosPa rk/Boblo.html | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 610 Registered: 10-2006 |
Jeez! Sounds like an awful place. I'm glad by the time I lived in Detroit, that they didn't have this boat service. I guess leave it to Detroiters to ruin other country's parks... | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 947 Registered: 06-2006 |
CP: Bob-Lo was awesome! Look over that link in the post above yours. Has great pics of a wonderful and clean place for kids of all ages to go right here in our backyard! A few bad apples...and no one said the fighting was from Detroiters. People from ALL OVER came to Bob-Lo. | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 1405 Registered: 10-2003 |
Bob-Lo was incredible... so much fun. I have great memories of those days. The boat ride was almost as much fun as the amusement park itself. Today's "theme parks" like Cedar Point or Six Flags are somehow more sterile and cold than the old amusement parks. | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 621 Registered: 10-2006 |
Well I didn't come to the Detroit area until '97. Obviously it was closed by that time and I have since heard a lot about it. To me however it just sort of seemed like an obscure place that didn't really exist in my mind because I never physically went there, and couldn't even tell you where it is on a map. Seems like a 'heaven' that doesn't really exist. Almost akin to the Detroit that people talk about a generation or two ago. I can picture it, but it just doesn't exist. | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 1408 Registered: 10-2003 |
Kinda like when you walk through the woods and see fallen trees, and think, "I didn't hear them fall, so they didn't"? | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 19 Registered: 02-2007 |
My grandfather was a policeman inDetroit and told me about an incident in the late 70s or early 80s. On the ride back to Detroit a large group went wild and then was contained by the crew with hoses. When the boat docked in Detroit a squad of the riot police (TMU, I think) went rushing on board with sticks and proceeded to bring order. These sorts of things, I was told, used to never happen, and if that's then I don't blame everyone who left the City. I moved on because I saw that it wasn't safe on the west side where I grew up. | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 625 Registered: 10-2006 |
It's always nice when the 'thugs' can push around good people. (slight sarcasm implied) | ||
Ltdave Member Username: Ltdave Post Number: 36 Registered: 09-2006 |
my parents took my sister and i and my grandmother to Bob-Lo once in the early/mid 70s. i remember feeling really bad because the park just seemed like a big rip-off. the rides were not that impressive (like Cedar Point's) and you had to buy tickets and pay for each ride over and above the costs incurred in the boatride and admission to the island... i went again with the city recreation department one summer but i dont remember anything about it except the boat ride down... david | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1213 Registered: 12-2003 |
Toward the end the ferry rides back to Detroit started to get a rough reputation. We used to catch the shorter boat ride from Amherstburg in the '80s. I remember on the big boat, folks would throw those wooden chairs off ... I bet there's a few at the bottom of the river. | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 349 Registered: 11-2005 |
I thought the other Boblo run left from Gibraltar? No? | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 5179 Registered: 10-2003 |
Charlottepaul, You act like this was a regular occurence. I was taken to Boblo as a child right before it closed. Besides what you're supposed to remember it for as a kid (a great day trip) it was uneventful. | ||
Chitaku Member Username: Chitaku Post Number: 1226 Registered: 03-2006 |
I remember the old and more recent Canadian boats | ||
Treble484 Member Username: Treble484 Post Number: 17 Registered: 02-2006 |
a small ferry left Wyandotte in the 80's | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1214 Registered: 12-2003 |
There might've been one from Gibraltar, but I just remember driving to Amherstburg and taking that one. Remember, the locals in Canada had to have a way over, so I think that one was always there. | ||
Leland_palmer Member Username: Leland_palmer Post Number: 234 Registered: 08-2004 |
Yes, there was a ferry from Gibraltar. | ||
Gibran Member Username: Gibran Post Number: 39 Registered: 02-2007 |
In the late sixties and early seventies it was still a nice place...crime has a way of destroying good things, out of hate and ignorance. Boblo, used to mean a long ride from downtown watching large freighters and playing tag with motor boats. Music from an old time band and yes mediocre rides but a small but nice zoo. I was always an adventure and a long boat ride home. When people start to feel that they have little pride in themselves they sure can ruin it for all. But, there were a variety of ways to get there...I was amazed how easy it was from the westside/downriver. Not like mega parks today but could have been if it hadn't met an untimely demise. |
