The steam screw MARYSVILLE, previously known as NORMANDIE, was built in 1894 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was a steambarge with a single stack and a wooden hull. The vessel had one deck and was originally owned by P. F. Thrall from Green Bay.
Powered by a for-and-aft compound engine with two cylinders measuring 20 + 40 x 30 inches, the MARYSVILLE had a propulsion system consisting of a screw. The engine, manufactured by Phoenix Iron Works in Port Huron, Michigan, provided 300 horsepower at 95 revolutions per minute. Steam for the engine was generated by a 9 feet 6 inches x 12 feet firebox boiler with a steam pressure of 125 pounds, also built by Phoenix Iron Works in Port Huron.
The MARYSVILLE had a length of 160 feet, a beam of 35.3 feet, and a depth of 10.8 feet. It had a gross tonnage of 567.28 and a net tonnage of 430.13. The vessel had a capacity of 700 tons.
On June 25, 1928, the MARYSVILLE encountered its final fate at the mouth of Belle River near Marine City, Michigan, in Lake Huron. The vessel caught fire and burned to the waterline while docked. It subsequently sank in that location.
Throughout its history, the MARYSVILLE had various owners and underwent changes in its ownership and operations. It was involved in collisions with other vessels, such as the schooner ASHLAND in 1894 and the yacht AZALEA in Port Huron on the St. Clair River in 1896. The vessel was owned by different entities, including P. F. Thrall and O. L. Harder, Charles G. Forster and William Inglis, Michigan, Indiana & Illinois Line, Morton Salt Co., Pringle Barge Line Co., John R. Lee, Lake Gravel Co., and eventually Service Gravel Co. It was rebuilt and converted into a self-unloading sand dredge during its history.
