The Michigan Steamship Company commissioned the Jenks Ship Building Company to build the Eastland. The Eastland's construction was completed in Port Huron, Michigan in 1903. The Michigan Steamship Company planned to use the ship as a passenger ship that would travel a 77 mile route on Lake Michigan between Chicago, Illinois and South Haven, Michigan. At the time, this was a popular travel route for businessmen dealing in produce as well as for tourists who enjoyed cruising on the lake. During the following few years, the Eastland also made runs in Lake Erie between Sandusky and Toledo, Ohio. The ship changed owners a couple of times before it was eventually bought by the St. Joseph-Chicago Steamship Company in June of 1914 at which time the ship returned to its original route between Chicago and cities in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan.

The Eastland's construction was somewhat similar to that of other Great Lakes passenger ships of the period. It was built of steel and of ocean-type construction. The ship was four decks high, had a length of 269 feet and a beam (width) of 36 feet. The Eastland was deliberately built to be narrow to enable it to travel through the water at higher speeds. The Eastland was eventually able to reach speeds slightly over 22 miles an hour which earned it the nickname "Speed Queen of the Lakes."

During its first year on the Great Lakes, the Eastland experienced periodic problems with stability while loading and unloading cargo and passengers. One incident occurred in the summer of 1904 while the Eastland was heading towards Chicago after having left South Haven with approximately 2500 passengers aboard. After the ship had traveled about 1.5 miles into Lake Michigan, it inexplicably began listing (leaning) to the starboard (right) side. The list reached 20 to 25 degrees. After relocating the passengers (whose concentration on the starboard side of the ship had likely contributed to the listing problem) and changing the balance by adding water to the ship's port (left) ballast tanks, the list soon corrected. This incident created a rumor that the Eastland was unstable and unsafe.

A similar incident occurred in August of 1906, supposedly again caused by a concentration of passengers on one side of the ship. It is important to note, though, that, other than a few minor incidents such as these, the ship's safety record was consistently satisfactory. As a result, The Eastland Navigation Company (the ship's owner from 1909-1914) placed a half-page newspaper advertisement in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Cleveland Leader on August 9, 1910. The ad read, in part: ". . .there are thousands of people who know absolutely nothing about boats, the rules and regulations for their running, and inspection and licensing of the same by the U. S. Government. In the hope of influencing this class of people there have been but into circulations stories to the effect that the Steamer Eastland is not safe." The ad also offered a five thousand dollar reward to anyone who could "bring forth a naval engineer, a marine architect, a shipbuilder, or any one qualified to pass on the merits of a ship who will say that the Steamer Eastland is not a seaworthy ship, or that she would not ride out any storm or weather any condition that can arise on either lake or ocean." There is no record showing that anyone ever came forward to claim the reward. After this, no major problems with the ship were reported.

In the beginning of the 1915 season, the Eastland passed its federal inspection, despite several new alterations which most likely made the ship even more top-heavy, and therefore unstable, than it had previously been. Nevertheless, following another federal inspection on July 4, 1915, the Eastland's official licensed passenger capacity was raised from 2,183 to 2,500.