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.
Where’s JENNIFER?
August 28, 2021By James Heinz There are thousands of shipwrecks in the history of the Great Lakes, going back to Le GRIFFON in 1679. Almost all of them occurred before World War II. Wooden sailing ships and steamers, sailing without radio or radar, account for most of them. The number of shipwrecks…Read more
This is the unusual yarn of a ship buried under a park alongside Lake Michigan
August 16, 2021By James Heinz Earlier this year a fascinating story about Lake Michigan lightships appeared on this website. The authors, Ken and Barb Wardius, tell tales of these floating lighthouses, including one called MILWAUKEE LIGHTSHIP NO. 95 that was stationed three miles off Milwaukee from 1912 to 1932 to guide ships…Read more
Shipwreck tour guide finds bottle with a message written nearly 100 years ago
August 7, 2021By James Heinz As noted in a previous story by Carl Eisenberg, the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society launched Little Toot 1 and Little Toot 2, the Society’s own versions of the proverbial message in a bottle, into two of the Great Lakes on June 9 and June 30, 2021. The Little Toot project…Read more
Wreck of steam-powered barge, owned partly by Joys and Fitzgerald families, a historic site in Sturgeon Bay
July 26, 2021By Carl Eisenberg The steam barge JOYS is now a Historic Shipwreck memorialized on the Wisconsin Maritime Trails. According to a Sept. 3, 1884, article in the Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, the wooden hulled steam barge was named after the Joys family who were part owners along with John Fitzgerald and others.…Read more
Death’s Door Maritime Museum features an all-steel fishing boat and a wooden, propeller-driven ship
July 7, 2021By 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…Read more
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
