CLEVELAND (March 27, 2025) – Celebrate the “ship that built Cleveland” and explore the past, present and future of Great Lakes freighters when Great Lakes Science Center debuts Steam and Steel: Propelling the Future of the Great Lakes on Friday, May 23. The new special exhibit is the centerpiece of a summer Centennial celebration of the Science Center’s historic Steamship William G. Mather, which launched 100 years ago on May 23, 1925.
Interactive exhibits will allow guests to experience what it was like to steer the mighty Mather, load and unload cargo, and explore what’s happening right now on the Great Lakes via the AIS (automatic identification system). Other exhibits will allow guests to discover the Mather’s innovations and historic firsts that made it a unique leader among Great Lakes freighters. Exhibits will let you try your hand at Mather’s innovations like the early addition of radar on the Great Lakes, dual propeller bow thrusters and automated boiler systems.
As guests enter the Steam and Steel exhibit, they will encounter a 14-by-10-foot replica of the front hull of the ship, providing the perfect place to snap a selfie before embarking on a journey into the history of the Mather and the world of Great Lakes shipping. Displays of artifacts from the Mather and historic photos chronicling Cleveland's shipping history will showcase how Lake Erie, and access to the other four Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Atlantic Ocean, helped shape the growth of Cleveland as a hub for commerce, industry and innovation.
Once the working flagship of Cleveland Cliffs, Inc., the Steamship Mather is now a maritime museum allowing guests to explore the ship and see its huge cargo holds, brass and oak pilot house, elegant guest quarters and four-story engine room.
The Mather typically made the round trip between Cleveland and Duluth, Minn. 35 times a year, bringing in the raw materials for steel production, which earned it the nickname "the ship that built Cleveland." The first commercial Great Lakes vessel equipped with radar and the first American vessel to use automated boiler systems, the cargo ship combined state-of-the-art technology with luxury as its guest quarters allowed Cleveland Cliff's executives and guests to travel in style.
The Great Lakes Historical Society acquired the Mather in 1987 after it was retired from commercial duty, and started renovating the ship to serve as a museum. In 1994, the Great Lakes Historical Society turned the vessel over to the Harbor Heritage Society, which continued restoration work and opened the ship to the public. In 2006, Harbor Heritage Society donated the Mather to the Science Center, where it remains open to the public from May through September, allowing guests to walk the decks and marvel at the engineering firsts that helped transform Cleveland into a great industrial center.
The Steamship William G. Mather opens for the season on Saturday, May 3 and will be open weekends for the month of May, extending to its six-days-a-week summer schedule on June 3. Admission to the special Steam and Steel exhibit, running May 23 through September 1, is included with general admission to the Science Center. Tickets to tour the Steamship Mather are additional. For more information on planning your visit or to purchase tickets online, visit GreatScience.com.
About Great Lakes Science Center
Great Lakes Science Center is one of the top ten museums in the nation as celebrated by the 2025 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice travel award for Best Science Museum. The Science Center hosted Total Eclipse Fest in 2024, one of the largest free eclipse events in the country and is home to the NASA Glenn Visitor Center. The Science Center makes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) come alive for more than 300,000 visitors a year through hundreds of hands-on exhibits, temporary exhibitions, the Cleveland Clinic DOME Theater, historic Steamship William G. Mather, daily science demonstrations, seasonal camps, and more. The Science Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit institution, earned a 2023 Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid, a leading provider of insight and data about the non-profit world. The Science Center is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. Visit GreatScience.com for more information.