On this day April 14, Milwaukeeans celebrate the city they love and call home as 414 is the area code for Milwaukee.   In honor of 414, today’s post is of a freight and passenger steamer named MILWAUKEE that was built in 1868. 

The MILWAUKEE was built at Ogdensburg, New York, by A. C. Keating for the Northern Transportation Co., to be used for the Welland Canal trade between Chicago, Milwaukee and Ogdensburg.  She measured 135.5 feet in length and 26.1 feet in beam. 

The MILWAUKEE had a good career with a few owners and a few alterations.  At the end she was used in the lumber trade on Lake Michigan.  

On July 9, 1886, bound from Chicago to Muskegon, the MILWAUKEE ran into fog and smoke on the lake from wildfires that were burning in Wisconsin.  The steamer C. HICKOX, bound from Muskegon to Chicago, ran into the same fog and smoke.  And yes, they collided.  The HICKOX slicing the side of the MILWAUKEE.  The crew was able to board the HICKOX and within two hours the MILWAUKEE was headed to the bottom where she stayed hidden for 137 years.

In June 2023, the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association located the MILWAUKEE in 360 feet of water using side-scan sonar.  They later surveyed the wreck using a remote operated vehicle.

Suzette Lopez

Photo: The steamer MILWAUKEE built 1868

Photo Credit:  Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.

This story was originally posted on April 14, 2024.