EXCURSION STEAMSHIP BUSINESS
The disaster had an immediate impact on the passenger excursion business. People were uncertain of the stability of the other excursion vessels. Oddly crafted vessels, such as the whaleback steamer Christopher Colombus, became suspected of instability. Many of these steamship lines ran stability tests on their ships, some in full public view, to reassure the public for their safety.

The Great Lakes excursion steamship business survived the Eastland Disaster. But a combination of the passage of the La Follette Seaman's Act, which required less passengers and more lifesaving equipment, and the advent of paved roads and dependable cars and trucks, numbered the days of the mighty Great Lakes steamers. World War I soon involved the United States, and leisure travel further declined. The majority of the steamship lines either folded or consolidated, so that by 1930 there existed only a few companies.

FATE OF THE CITY OF SOUTH HAVEN
The City of South Haven ran to South Haven, Michigan until she was requisitioned by the War Shipping Board in 1918. After the war, she became the City of Miami of the Miami-Havana Navigation Company. Her plating at the bow was brought up one deck to protect her against the high seas. After two years of operations to Cuba, she returned to the Great Lakes to run as the second E.G. Crosby between Milwaukee, Muskegon and Grand Haven. She operated until the early 1930's, but was then laid up at Sturgeon Bay, where she was nearly destroyed by fire on December 3, 1935. Efforts to rebuild her failed and she was scrapped in the early 1940's.

CHANGES AS A RESULT OF THE EASTLAND
When the Iroquois Theatre Fire happened, radical changes were brought about in the wake of that catastrophe. Public buildings would not have 'EXIT' signs and outward opening doorways today if not from lessons learned from the Iroquois Theatre. Sadly, the Eastland disaster had little effect on the way steamships were inspected and approved, with the exception of a heightened awareness of metacentric heights and stability of ships. After being legally being proved seaworthy in court, the Eastland simply became a tragic accident. Of course, the Eastland was a unique situation. Just as the Titanic had been. In the movie Titanic, the screenplay really stresses the importance of the lack of lifeboats. But in reality, the Titanic had the correct amount of lifeboats. The able seamen of the Titanic could not launch all 20 lifeboats in 2-1/2 hours! The ship also sank on an even keel, which is fairly straight and very rare during any catastrophic sinking. If the Titanic had listed a mere 10 degrees, the davits could not have lowered 1/2 of the lifeboats. But still, with all of these facts, the U.S. Congress passed the La Follette Seaman's Act and required the additional boatage. As history has proved, the additional top-heavy weight of these life-saving devices was the straw that broke the Eastland's back.

And the spirit of a city.