Valley 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 ship 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. She was decommissioned due to problems with her coal-burning boilers. Her twin,
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 are able to explore the ship as well as view exhibits in the cargo hold, which houses hundreds of artifacts, paintings, shipwreck items, models, two lifeboats from the wreck of the , and exhibits of objects related to maritime history. == The ship ==