Manitowoc County shipwreck listed in National Register of Historic Places

On 29/01/2009
In Parks & Protected Sites
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From Herald Times Reporter

The Wisconsin Historical Society has announced the listing of two Lake Michigan shipwrecks, the Lumberman (Milwaukee County) and the Continental (Manitowoc County) in the National Register of Historic Places.

The remains of the schooner Lumberman lie in 55 feet of water four miles east of Oak Creek. Built in 1862 in the remote, frontier shipyard of Allyne Litchfield in Blendon’s Landing, Mich., the Lumberman was built specifically for transportation of lumber products.

The three-masted, double centerboard schooner sank in a fast-moving storm on April 6, 1893.

The Lumberman is remarkably intact and provides the opportunity to study construction techniques on this unique vessel type.

Little documentation exists in the historic record regarding double centerboard schooners, and the Lumberman is one of only four examples known to exist in Wisconsin waters, making it an important archaeological resource, according to a press release from the Wisconsin Historical Society.

The remains of the bulk carrier Continental, located 1.5 miles north of Rawley Point Light in Point Beach State Forest near Two Rivers, rest broken in 15 feet of water.

Built in 1882 by well-known shipwright George Presley in Cleveland, Ohio, the Continental was one of a transitional class of Great Lakes bulk carriers that began to employ innovative hull-strengthening technologies to accommodate greater gross tonnage and longer hulls.