CLEVELAND (May 2, 2025) – Join Great Lakes Science Center in wishing “the ship that built Cleveland” a happy 100th birthday as the Steamship William G. Mather’s Centennial Summer gets under way!
 
On Saturday, May 24, at noon, visit the Science Center to sign a giant birthday card for the Mather and get a special birthday cupcake (while supplies last) under our event tents outside along the harbor. Then climb aboard and take your pick from three different ways to tour this restored 618-foot historic ship! The Centennial Summer features special tours, new artifacts, and an interactive cart activity to help guests experience what life was like on board a working Great Lakes freighter.
 
When visiting the Mather this summer, guests can choose from a self-guided tour, a guided tour held daily at 12:30 p.m., or a special Hard Hat Tour for a deeper look into the inner workings of the ship. Self-guided tours and the daily guided tour are available during normal operating hours. Hard Hat Tours are held on select Saturdays and Sundays and require advanced registration with a separate ticket.

  • Self-guided tours – explore the Mather at your own pace on this easy to follow tour. No need for a reservation and staff members are stationed throughout to answer questions and point out some of the ship’s interesting artifacts. Self-guided tours are included with admission to the Mather.
  • Daily guided tours – Science Center staff and volunteers will show you the ropes and describe what life aboard the Mather was like for the crew and guests out on the Great Lakes. Guided tours will take place daily at 12:30 p.m. and are included in the price of admission.  
  • Hard Hat Tours – Explore the places on the Mather that you can’t see on a regular tour by registering for one of the weekend Hard Hat Tours. Visit the dark hold, the pump deck and the crew’s hall with a guide. Guests will get a closer look at the propeller shaft and a bird’s eye view of the engines from the engineer’s catwalk. Please note that the tour requires guests to scale steep stairways, ladders and areas with low light. Close-toed, enclosed heel, athletic shoes or boots are required. Guests must be age 10 or older. Hard Hat Tours are $45, which includes the tour and admission to both the Mather and the Science Center. These tours last approximately two hours and will be offered at 9 a.m. on May 3, 10, 17, 24, 25 and 31 as well as each Saturday and Sunday from June through August 24. Registration is required.

Explore the Mather from stem to stern and see its huge cargo holds, brass and oak pilot house, elegant guest quarters and four-story engine room. See the captain’s quarters, the crew members’ rooms, and the galley where meals were prepared. Walk the deck overlooking the massive cargo doors, and marvel at the “engineering firsts” that helped the Mather transform Cleveland into a great industrial center.
 
Built in 1925, the Mather was the flagship of Cleveland Cliff’s Great Lakes fleet and features what would have been the most advanced technology of its day. It was one of the first ships on the Great Lakes to utilize radar and the first American vessel to have an automated boiler system. In 1995 it was designated a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in recognition of the 1954 installation of a single marine boiler and steam turbine engine, and the 1964 installation of the Bailey 760 Boiler Control System and American Shipbuilding AmThrust dual propeller bow thrusters, all firsts for a U.S. flagged Great Lakes vessel.  
 
Admission to the Mather is $10.95 for adults and a combination ticket for both the Mather and the Science Center is $24.95. Tickets for children ages 2 to 12 are $8.95 for the Mather, and a combination ticket is $19.95.
 
As part of the Mather’s Centennial, don’t miss Steam and Steel: Propelling the Future of the Great Lakes, a new special exhibit opening May 23 inside the Science Center featuring interactive exhibits that 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). Exhibits will let you try your hand at Mather innovations like the early addition of radar on the Great Lakes, dual propeller bow thrusters and automated boiler systems.
 
Guests 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 the Great Lakes helped shape the growth of Cleveland as a hub for commerce, industry and innovation. Steam and Steel is included with general admission to the Science Center.
 
About Great Lakes Science Center
Great Lakes Science Center is one of the top 10 museums in the nation as celebrated by the 2025 USA Today 10 Best 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.