The Foundry on the Cuyahoga River 635' Sam Laud Ship 1813 Columbus Rd. September 29, 2024
The Polish American Cultural Center, JPII hosted Polish History Day at an historic location in Cleveland on Sunday September 29, 2024. The event was held at The Foundry which is located on the historic site of St. Mary's on the Flats Church, the first Catholic Church in the City of Cleveland.
There was an informative presentation from Doug Kuzak, an Historical Interpreter at the Cleveland Metroparks.
Doug Kuzak
Doug spoke about the history of the land and how St Mary's on the Flats became the first Catholic Church in the city of Cleveland. It's an interesting story. Doug referenced the book A history of Catholicity in northern Ohio and the diocese of Cleveland from 1749 to December 31, 1900 which is available as a free download here.
Ian Marks, Business Manager of The Foundry gave some information about the organization.
Ian Marks, Business Manager of The Foundry
The Foundry is a local non-profit organization whose mission is to transform the lives of Cleveland’s youth through access to the sports of rowing and sailing. Through the Row. Sail. Dream. program, the Foundry provides introductory rowing and sailing programming to all 6th-12th grade students from public school districts across the County, at no cost to financially qualifying households.
Attendees could participate in a free introductory rowing lesson conducted by certified coaches and volunteers of The Foundry. Participants learned the basics of rowing using the Erg exercise machine and received instruction on fundamental rowing
skills in their state-of-the-art indoor rowing tank.
The surrounding neighborhood is like a page from Cleveland's history.
The Foundry is located right on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. Cuyahoga means crooked and maneuvering the twists and turns takes skill but especially for a ship this size. This is the M/V Sam Laud, a diesel-powered Lake freighter owned and operated by the American Steamship Company.
This vessel was built in 1975 at Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and included self-unloading technology. The ship is 634 feet 10 inches (193.50 m) long and 68.1 feet (20.8 m) wide, with a carrying capacity of 24,300 tons (at midsummer draft), limestone, gypsum, coal or iron ore. The ship was built for American Steamship in 1975 and named for a former company chairman, Sam Laud. The ship can be briefly seen during the opening credits for the 1989 film Major League.
Sam Laud ship size compared to Terminal Tower
Cuyahoga River outside the Foundry
Sam Laud ship on the Cuyahoga River
Here is a short video taking a look at the Sam Laud ship on the Cuyahoga River.
It was a fun and informative day in a somewhat unfamiliar area of the city of Cleveland.
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