The Mason County Historical Society

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The

Flint & Pere Marquette Line Steamers

Entrepreneur Eber Brock Ward put Ludington on the map in 1873 when he completed a railroad from Flint to Ludington, Michigan, running through rich timberlands he owned to the shores of Lake Michigan where it could be shipped all over the Midwest on steamships he owned. This none-too-humble man will share, virtually, how through vertical integration—owning and operating multiple businesses that all fed one another—he became the Midwest’s first millionaire. Children can try their hands at loading one of Ward’s steamships as they take their first steps as entrepreneurs.

 

Entrepreneur Eber Brock Ward put Ludington on the map in 1873 when he completed a railroad from Flint to Ludington, Michigan, running through rich timberlands he owned to the shores of Lake Michigan where it could be shipped all over the Midwest on steamships he owned. This none-too-humble man will share, virtually, how through vertical integration—owning and operating multiple businesses that all fed one another—he became the Midwest’s first millionaire. Children can try their hands at loading one of Ward’s steamships as they take their first steps as entrepreneurs.