The flatbottomed steamboat, drawing only two and a half feet of water, C.C. Trowbridge was used as a harbor lighter in the Milwaukee Harbor bringing freight and passengers from larger vessels in Milwaukee Bay.

Originally the C.C.Trowbridge made a couple of trips on the Kalamazoo River (Michigan) before it was found unsuitable for river navigation and was sold to interests in Milwaukee in September of 1839.
The steamer C.C. Trowbridge was reported ashore near Milwaukee Harbor (off North Point) December 5, 1842. Loss and damage to the vessel - $3,000. She was reported as condemned and her engines removed at Milwaukee. The History of Milwaukee, however, reports her as going out of commission at the opening of the harbor, after which, her engine was placed in J.B. Smith's planing mill. Was she salvaged and later dismantled? One source says she was broken up at Milwaukee in 1877. Possibly, her hull was recovered, rebuilt and lengthened fifteen feet in 1943. In 1846 the Trowbridge was active in the recovery of the machinery of the steamer Boston.