On this day July 26, 1905, 120 years ago, a fire started in the paint locker of the wooden steamer GEORGE PRESLEY.   She was bound up from Milwaukee, light, to Escanaba for a cargo of ore.  When a short distance from the west shore of Washington Island, the fire was discovered.  All 15 of the crew including her captain, Frank Folsom, managed to escape in the boats.  The burning wreck drifted ashore on Washington Island.   The PRESLEY was owned by Mona Transportation Company of Cleveland and became a total loss.   Her value was $70,000.

     The PRESLEY was launched on May 22, 1889, at the yard of the Cleveland Drydock Company.  Her cost was about $125,000 and her owners included Henry J. Johnson and George Presley.   She measured 265 feet in length, 41 feet in beam and 20 feet in depth.

            Her end was not the first time she was ashore.  Weather, not fire, were the cause of most of her mishaps.  In June of 1891, she went ashore at Sand Beach, Lake Huron, and was scuttled by the captain to keep her from pounding to pieces in the heavy sea.  In September of 1893, she stranded near Huron, Ohio, and considered to be in bad shape.  When examined the next day, she was found to be in good condition sitting on a sandy bottom.  She was released within a few days.

         The PRESLEY stayed on Washington Island until June of 1906.  Then her burnt hulk was taken by the tug NELSON to Sturgeon Bay.

Suzette Lopez

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