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.
The FRED PABST Was Launched and the Coroner’s Services Were Not Required
April 22, 2022By Suzette Lopez On April 5, 1890, the largest wooden steamer ever built on Lake Michigan slid into the water at Milwaukee’s Wolf & Davidson shipyard. The FRED PABST made quite the splash as reported below by the Milwaukee Journal of that day. ”The steamer FRED PABST was launched this…Read more
BOATS THAT KEPT MILWAUKEE SAFE – Chapter 5
April 9, 2022Gone but still around By James Heinz There are many traces of these historic fireboats left that you can view. The first are the boat hydrants. There are four of them on the south side of Michigan Street between Broadway and Jefferson in downtown Milwaukee, and one of them at…Read more
A Brutal Squall took the Schooner LUMBERMAN
April 6, 2022The three-masted schooner LUMBERMAN was caught in a brutal squall in Lake Michigan on April 6, 1893. She capsized and sank about 17 miles southeast of Milwaukee, off Oak Creek. It is said she was thrown on her beams end, filled with water, righted herself and sunk. Luckily the water…Read more
BOATS THAT KEPT MILWAUKEE SAFE – Chapter 4
April 2, 2022Out with the coal, in with the diesel By James Heinz In 1948, Milwaukee took delivery of its seventh fireboat, the DELUGE. Her design was inspired by the Chicago Fire Department’s fireboat FRED A. BUSSE. She was designed by A. M. Deering, the same Chicago naval architect that designed the…Read more
BOATS THAT KEPT MILWAUKEE SAFE Chapter 3
March 26, 2022What’s its name again? By James Heinz The story of the fireboats is made more difficult by the Milwaukee Fire Department’s habit of changing the names of the boat to engine company numbers and then back again, and then reusing the same names and numbers, and using both a name…Read more
BRAND NEW CHRYSLERS USE LAKE SUPERIOR AS AN ICE ROAD
March 24, 2022By Suzette Lopez On March 18, 1896, the CITY OF BANGOR was launched at West Bay City, Mich., by F. W. Wheeler & Co. She slide down the ways on an almost even keel and struck the water lightly. Her swell broke the ice for a long distance in the…Read more
AMAZING WHAT 1,500 POUNDS OF DYNAMITE CAN DO
March 13, 2022BySuzette Lopez On March 7, 1912, the RACINE was still stuck in ice off Racine, Wis. The Northern Michigan Transportation Company passenger steamer and the IOWA of the Goodrich line had been stuck since trying to enter the Racine Harbor the night of the 3rd. The steamers were within half…Read more
BOATS THAT KEPT MILWAUKEE SAFE – Chapter 2
March 13, 2022The beginning By James Heinz Wikipedia describes the origin of the fireboat thusly: “The first recorded fire-float was built in 1765 for the Sun Fire Insurance Company in London. This was a manual pump in a small boat, rowed by its crew to the scene of the fire. As early as…Read more
BOATS THAT KEPT MILWAUKEE SAFE – Chapter 1
March 5, 2022By James Heinz Once there were over 250 of them. They lined every street in downtown Milwaukee. Now, only five of these silent green cylindrical sentinels of safety remain. People walk past them every day without knowing the five are a testament to a time when they were part of…Read more
VALENTINE’S DAY 1923 INFLICTS HAVOC ON THE HOODOO SHIP
February 15, 2022By Suzette Lopez On February 14, 1923, the carferry ANN ARBOR NO. 4 struck the south breakwater of the Frankfort harbor just past the lighthouse during a horrific ice storm and sank. While the coast guard was rushing to the rescue from shore, the carferry shifted while foundering and rolled…Read more
WISCONSIN’S OLDEST SHIPWRECK
January 23, 2022By James Heinz Like real world archeologists, fictional archeologist Indiana Jones will cross the widest deserts, climb the highest mountains, hack his way through trackless jungles, sail the widest oceans, and fight his greatest nemesis, snakes, to find priceless historical artifacts. But Wisconsin’s own Indiana Jones, Tamara Thomsen, did not…Read more
$2 billion over five years: Climate change price for buttressing Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River government property
January 14, 2022By Dan Patrinos Over the next five years, coastal communities along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River are expected to spend nearly $2 billion combating damages from climate change, according to a survey of United States and Canadian government officials. The binational survey of 241 cities, villages and other…Read more
