Our Blog
Wisconsin Marine Historical Society is a self-supported nonprofit organization committed to collecting, preserving, archiving, and sharing materials that illuminate the rich heritage of the Great Lakes maritime industry. Check out our blog to dive deep into the fascinating narratives and events that have shaped the Great Lakes maritime legacy.
This is the story of a pandemic, a child’s book, toy boats and grownups launching them in the Great Lakes
July 2, 2021By Carl Eisenberg About seven months into Milwaukee’s version of the coronavirus pandemic, on October 13, 2020, the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society began its Little Toot project. On that day, Executive Director Suzette Lopez shared Lynn BeBeau’s October 8 “Mystery Solved” post on Facebook and suggested, “Maybe WMHS should launch…Read more
In a virtual year, Wisconsin Marine Historical Society takes to the waves
June 29, 2021Inspired by a classic children’s book, the Wisconsin Marine Historical Societyis launching a trio of toy boats made by a member into the Great Lakes. By Bobby TanziloSenior Editor/WriterPublished with permission of the website OnMilwaukee, where the story appeared June 28, 2021 When the pandemic shut down the Milwaukee Public Library, the activities…Read more
Search for missing airliner finds lost shipwrecks after author Clive Cussler and TV producer Josh Gates show interest
June 1, 2021By James Heinz Years ago an airliner with its crew and passengers went missing. A massive air, sea, and underwater search failed to find the aircraft but did by chance discover long-missing shipwrecks. For years people have speculated about the missing aircraft, even invoking UFOs to explain its disappearance. It…Read more
New maritime exhibit tower in Sturgeon Bay opens, christened with champagne
May 25, 2021By Tom Wenstadt About 175 people witnessed the christening of the eleven-story James F. Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower at the Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay on a warm, sunny Saturday morning, May 22. The tower’s official opening included the first floor Door peninsula welcoming area and the tenth…Read more
Writer has flashback mulling the sinking of two-masted schooner off Wind Point Lighthouse in 1895
May 18, 2021By Carl Eisenberg Two miles offshore of the Wind Point Lighthouse is the wreck of the schooner KATE KELLY. She sank with her crew in Lake Michigan in 1895. The ship’s remains rest in about fifty-five feet of water. A Wisconsin Historical Society red mooring buoy marks the spot. The…Read more
Lake Michigan adventure story owes its inspiration to author’s mariner father and history of car ferries
May 3, 2021By James Heinz Although there are many nonfiction books written about Great Lakes maritime history, little fiction has been written about it, as far as I know. Other than a mention by Herman Melville in Moby Dick, I am not aware of any novels written about the adventures of Great…Read more
Remains of wrecked ship and historic markers on Sheboygan waterfront recall maritime past
May 2, 2021By Carl Eisenberg If you’re looking for maritime history in Sheboygan, scenic Broughton Drive along Lake Michigan is a good place to start: there’s the partly reconstructed wreck of the LOTTIE COOPER, and markers for the sinking of the schooners PHOENIX and GALLINIPPER. On a cloudy, windy April afternoon with the…Read more
Tourist dock in Ephraim transforms visitor into sightseer of maritime history
April 8, 2021By Carl Eisenberg Three quarters of the way up Wisconsin’s Door County peninsula is Anderson Dock, in the village of Ephraim. During the cold months there aren’t more than 300 people living there, but by August tourists swell the population to several thousand. Many will take in the old graffiti-scrawled…Read more
The bends ended his diving adventures, but not the tales he tells
March 30, 2021By James Heinz As a kid, I learned about diving watching TV reruns of Sea Hunt. But the show that really inspired me was The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau on ABC. I was entranced by the thought of swimming in warm, clear ocean water looking at beautiful marine life. I took night…Read more
Markers of submerged archaeological sites offer chance to reflect on bygone age
March 27, 2021By Carl Eisenberg As more people were getting their vaccine shots, lessening the chance of catching the virus, it seemed to be a good time to accept the Wisconsin Historical Society’s invitation to visit historic markers noting shipwrecks off Milwaukee County. Let me confess, right off the bat, the invitation…Read more
As a new season begins, freighters are leaving their winter berths, going to work
March 25, 2021By Tom Wenstadt Spring is here, the ice is thinning and the Great Lakes ships are beginning to move. The S/S WILFRED SYKES left Sturgeon Bay the afternoon of March 23, heading for Two Harbors, Minnesota, for its first load of the season, and the M/V STEWART J. CORT departed…Read more
Great Lakes Maritime Task Force expected another good year, but only grain and wind turbine parts buoyed commerce
March 23, 2021By Dan Patrinos Great Lakes commercial mariners played the hand they were dealt last year. “2020 was a year that caught everyone by surprise,” the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force says in its recently released annual report. “Maritime commerce on the Great Lakes was expected to keep on rolling like 2019…Read more
