By Carl Eisenberg
It was cloudy on the morning of June 24 for the visit to two Historic Markers on the grounds of the Death’s Door Maritime Museum in Gills Rock, Wis.Look at The Beacon on this website for an article about the new exhibit: From-Net-To-Table. This museum, operated by the Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society, Inc., is located 2.2 miles west of the Northport Pier used by the Washington Island Ferry.
The first Historic Marker features the SKIPPER, an all-steel, forty-two foot long fishing boat displayed not far from the museum. Built in 1945 at the Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, she was the first steel boat used for gill net fishing out of Gills Rock. The setting is dramatic with houses and apartments across the street that complement the appearance of the area.
The second Historic Marker features the wooden rudder of the CITY OF GLASGOW, a wooden, propeller-driven ship. The rudder is displayed standing upright alongside the museum. Built in 1891, the ship ran aground in November 1907. She subsequently caught fire, burned to the waterline, and sank, blocking navigation to the port of Green Bay.
The next spring the Leathem and Smith Towing and Wrecking Company moved the CITY OF GLASGOW to Green Bay and, after further work, to Sturgeon Bay where in 1910 she was converted to a barge to carry crushed stone. After that, she was referred to as the GLASGOW and usually carried limestone from the Door County quarry, usually towed by the Leathem and Smith tug JOHN HUNSADER. After encountering a storm on Oct. 6, 1917, the GLASGOW ended up firmly grounded in the beach from which she could not be freed.
Abandoned in 1922, divers can now visit parts of her rigging and the remains of her hull in about ten feet of water some one-hundred yards from shore in Lily Bay, roughly three miles north of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. Her rudder was raised by Century Divers on Aug. 29, 1971, and donated to the Door County Maritime Museum.
Sources:
CITY OF GLASGOW: Wisconsin Shipwrecks
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An all-steel, forty-two foot long fishing boat, the SKIPPER is displayed near Death’s Door Maritime Museum at Gills Rock, Wis. Photo Credit: Carl Eisenberg
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Carl Eisenberg is a sailor and birdwatcher, and has been president of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society since 2016. A retired pediatrician, he is a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine. He lives in Mequon, Wis.
