Flint & Pere Marquette Steamers

The Flint & Pere Marquette was one of the most important railroads in Michigan’s development, and its steamship line connected Ludington to markets across the Great Lakes. At this interactive exhibit, children can step into the shoes of a young 19th-century shipping entrepreneur — loading cargo onto one of Ward’s steamships and experiencing the logistics of Great Lakes commerce firsthand.

It’s one of the museum’s most popular stops for young visitors, combining hands-on play with genuine historical learning. By the time kids finish ‘loading the ship,’ they have an intuitive grasp of why steamship lines were so economically transformative and why Ludington became a major port.