If you grew up in Windsor-Essex, Boblo may have been the summer trip you counted down to. Getting there was a big part of it: a long ride down the Detroit River on a three-deck steamer, and an island full of rides at the far end.
Boblo Island Amusement Park closed after the 1993 season. A lot of people still remember the boats as clearly as the coasters.
The story
People were on this island long before there was a park. The Detroit Historical Society cites a 1718 account of about 70 Indigenous families farming it, and a French mission was set up there in 1742. The island's official name, Bois Blanc, is French. Generations of visitors simply called it Boblo.
Later the island was a military outpost. Parks Canada dates its limestone lighthouse to 1836, and CBC dates the blockhouse to 1839. In January 1838, during the Upper Canada Rebellion, rebels calling themselves Patriots, along with American supporters, crossed over and briefly took the island before British forces won it back. The Detroit Historical Society says the island was also a staging point for the first local action of the War of 1812, and the lighthouse kept working until 1959. Even in the park years, the military past never quite left: the society notes the island hosted joint Canadian-American war games in 1958. The lighthouse and blockhouse were named national historic sites in 1955, according to the Windsor Public Library, which notes the blockhouse was one of three that originally stood on the island.
The amusement era started in 1898, when the Detroit, Belle Isle and Windsor Ferry Company opened a park on the island. The company's two steamers are still what people picture when they think of Boblo. The Windsor Public Library says the Columbia was built for the company in 1902 by the Detroit Ship Building Company. The Ste. Claire followed in 1910. The library says the Columbia had three decks and could carry up to 3,200 passengers a trip. The Detroit Historical Society says they left from the foot of Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit, and the trip took about 80 minutes.
In 1913 the park added a dance pavilion. The Detroit Historical Society says it was the largest in North America until 1925, and the Windsor Public Library calls it a major concert venue from the 1920s through the 1960s. In the 1920s and 1930s, swimmers even raced the 24 miles between Belle Isle and the island, according to the Detroit Historical Society. The Great Depression closed the park for 1933 and 1934.
The rides came gradually. ClickOnDetroit dates the first ones to 1910 and the arrival of the Whip to 1920.
After the Second World War, it turned into more of an amusement park. ClickOnDetroit reports that the island was facing bankruptcy in 1949 when the Browning family bought it and filled it with rides, including a coaster, a Ferris wheel and a fun house. A miniature railway circled the island in the 1960s, swan paddle boats arrived in 1970, and the Thunder Bolt coaster opened in 1973.
Why people remember it
The boats were a big part of the appeal. A trip to most amusement parks meant time in the back seat. Boblo could mean a cruise, and the cruise was part of the fun.
Then there was the island. It sat in the Detroit River across from Amherstburg, close enough to see from the Ontario shore. CTV News has described Boblo as Detroit and Windsor's own "Coney Island." It drew families from both countries.
The park also had a long history by Ontario standards. The same river crossing that took people to dances and concerts in the 1920s was taking their grandchildren to the Thunder Bolt in the 1970s.
Boblo was also a workplace, and for some people it was where life took a turn. When the developer went back to the Bois Blanc name in 2022, its representative told a Michigan radio station that the nostalgia hadn't gone anywhere.
We get so many calls from people who say they met their spouse while working at the amusement park.
Cindy Prince, Amico, to 99.1 WFMK
What happened?
In 1979 the Brownings sold the island. ClickOnDetroit reports several owners after that, including AAA of Michigan.
Then the boats stopped. The Windsor Public Library says the Columbia and Ste. Claire made their last run on September 2, 1991. A Boblo you couldn't reach from downtown Detroit by steamer was a very different place to visit.
The park kept going for two more summers and closed after the 1993 season. CTV News puts it simply: Boblo couldn't compete with larger, newer theme parks. ClickOnDetroit says the rides were sold to other amusement parks.
In 1994, according to the Windsor Public Library, John Oram bought the island and began building homes there.
What's there now?
Boblo is now a private residential community. CBC News reported in June 2025 that the island is owned by developer Amico, and that the ferry from Amherstburg carries only residents and their guests. CTV News reported in August 2025 that a second ferry had gone into service after the Town of Amherstburg complained about the island depending on just one.
In 2022 the developer began using the island's original name, Bois Blanc, again. Coverage at the time from CTV News and 99.1 WFMK counted roughly 140 to 150 homes on the north end, with 220 more lots planned on the south end. CTV said roughly half of the 272-acre island would be left natural. Some of the park is still there. CBC says the dance hall, now more than a century old, is still standing, and the developer has said a restaurant open to the public could follow once the remaining lots are built. CTV has also reported on an old theatre and the old bumper-car area, and the developer has talked about finding a new use for the theatre.
The ferry is for residents and their guests, but you can still see part of the island's history from the mainland. Parks Canada says the 1836 lighthouse is not open to visitors and can be viewed from the Amherstburg shoreline. And there is one public foothold: CBC notes that the federally owned White Sands area has a beach the public can reach, but only by private boat.
Both boats still exist. The Detroit Metro Times reported that the Ste. Claire was damaged in a 2018 fire and is being restored in Detroit, with plans to make one deck a museum. The Columbia is in Buffalo, New York, according to the Windsor Public Library and the Metro Times, waiting for a restoration of its own. Their story was told in the 2022 documentary Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale.
Quick facts
- Island: Bois Blanc, in the Detroit River off Amherstburg
- Park opened: 1898, by the Detroit, Belle Isle and Windsor Ferry Company
- The boats: Columbia (1902) and Ste. Claire (1910), last run September 2, 1991
- Dance pavilion: Built 1913, still standing
- Owners: The ferry company, then the Browning family from 1949, then a string of owners after 1979
- Closed: After the 1993 season
- Today: A private residential community; lighthouse visible from the Amherstburg shore
