Christened Juniata when she was launched, she was built for the Anchor Line, the Great Lakes marine division of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Forced to divest from its marine divisions, the Pennsylvania Railroad sold its Anchor Line along with four other railroad-owned company fleets, to the newly formed Great Lakes Transit Corporation.

Juniata was laid up in 1936 due to poor economic conditions as well as new regulations on wooden passenger ships following the Morro Castle disaster.

Juniata was moored in Buffalo until being sold in 1940 to Wisconsin & Michigan Steamship Company, a subsidiary of the McKee family-owned Sand Products Corporation of Detroit, MI.

Sharp is credited with three historic vessels, Milwaukee Clipper, SS Lane Victory, and NS Savannah.

The modernized ship now featured air conditioned staterooms, a children's playroom, a movie theater, a dance floor with a live band, a soda fountain, bar, cafeteria, lounges and sports deck, and capacity to carry 120 automobiles.

[5][clarification needed] During her inaugural season, a space on the Sports Deck was leased to a Chicago based entertainment firm.

Earl Secrist of the Grand Haven State Police and another officer boarded the ship and attempted to serve a search warrant to Captain Allen K. Hoxie.

They planned to put her on a Chicago to Milwaukee run made popular by the whaleback passenger ship SS Christopher Columbus.

After several court cases, the vessel was returned to Gillon, being towed to Chicago in 1980 for use as a museum ship on Navy Pier.

After Milwaukee Clipper was replaced by a new casino ship, she was towed to South Chicago and laid up on the Calumet River.

In the summer season, visitors tour the pilothouse, some staterooms, crew quarters, dance floor, soda bowl, movie theater and more.

There are also displays of memorabilia from both Juniata and Milwaukee Clipper, which include memory books, photographs, brochures, dishes and other items of interest.

A 45-minute documentary, The Milwaukee Clipper: A Legend Saved, was produced by filmmaker Mark Howell in 1997 and shown on PBS.

The program has interviews with the key people who worked aboard the ship and includes restored 16 mm color film footage of Milwaukee Clipper's christening, sailing, and other operations.